hush
hush (hus̸h)
transitive verb
- to stop from making noise; make quiet or silent
- to soothe; calm; lull
Etymology: ME huschen < huscht, quiet (mistaken as pp.): of echoic orig.
intransitive verb
to stop making noise; be or become quiet or silent
adjective
Archaic silent; hushed
noun
absence of noise; quiet; silence
be silent
hush up
- to keep quiet
- to keep from being told; suppress the report or discussion of
hush
interj.
Object
- whisper: A quiet, hushed whisper upon which the weight of the blood of kings weighs.
- reverence: To the Rock Majority, however, mention of the eighties brings hushed reverence for who?
- tone: The voices around me spoke in such hushed tones.
- awe: But after a few steps, she stopped in hushed awe, her eyes drinking in her surroundings.
- silence: In the hushed silence I did not look down, not even once.
- voice: In a hushed voice he said, " Remember.
Converse of object
- awe: There was a sort of awed hush around the set.
Adjective modifier
- deathly: There is always a deathly hush on the phone at this point.
- breathless: And -- breathless hush and all that -- James Utechin fought out the final over.
- expectant: The chattering of the crowd dies down to an expectant hush, only broken by the occasional whistle and the odd yell.
- solemn: For many years I have noticed that when God is about to work He produces stillness -- a solemn hush -- and expectation.
- sudden: She seemed oblivious to the sudden hush in the café as they entered.
- reverential: Every time a US delegate speaks on the floor of a conference room, a reverential hush descends.
Modifies a noun
- puppy: Maybe I could get a stool up there and start wearing hush puppies.
- button: Smoke alarms should be of the type with a ' hush button ' .
Modifying Another Word
- so: How came ye muffled in so hush a mask?
- very: Louisa Brown, Lesley Browning and Andrew Henderson tell all off the record, on the QT and very hush hush.
- all: It's all hushed up by the media and whatever but god, are they at it.
Followed by an intransitive particle
- up: He later learns she died of pestilence which was promptly hushed up by the hotel to prevent a scare.
Possessives
- morning: When you awaken in the morning's hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight.
As I came through the desert thus it was, As I came through the desert: All was black, In heaven no single star, on earth no track; A brooding hush without a stir or note; The air so thick it clotted in my throat.
All night has the casement jessamine stirred To the dancers dancing in tune; Till a silence fell with the waking bird, And a hush with the setting moon.
When you were quite a little boy somebody ought to have said 'hush' just once.
Browse dictionary entries near hush
- husbandry
- husbandman
- husband-wife immunity
- husband
- Hus
- hurtless
- hurtleberry
- hurtle
- hurtful
- hurt
- Hush-a-Phone Decision
- hush-hush
- hush money
- Hush Puppies
- hush puppy
- hush (up)
- hushaby
- husk
- husk-tomato
- husking (bee)
