hush up

[huhsh] Origin

hush

[huhsh]
interjection
1.
(used as a command to be silent or quiet.)
verb (used without object)
2.
to become or be silent or quiet: They hushed as the judge walked in.

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Hush up is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
verb (used with object)
3.
to make silent; silence.
4.
to suppress mention of; keep concealed (often followed by up): They hushed up the scandal.
5.
to calm, quiet, or allay: to hush someone's fears.
noun
6.
silence or quiet, especially after noise.
7.
Phonetics. either of the sibilant sounds (sh) and (zh).
adjective
8.
Archaic. silent; quiet.

Origin:
1350–1400; apparently back formation from husht whist2 (Middle English huissht), the -t being taken for past participle suffix

hush·ed·ly [huhsh-id-lee, huhsht-lee] , adverb
hush·ful, adjective
hush·ful·ly, adverb
un·hush·ing, adjective


6. peace, stillness, tranquillity.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To hush up
Collins
World English Dictionary
hush up
 
vb
(tr, adverb) to suppress information or rumours about

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

hush
1546, variant of M.E. huisht (c.1380), probably of imitative origin, with terminal -t lost probably by being mistaken for a pt. suffix. Hush-hush (adj.) is 1916 reduplication. Hush-money is attested from 1709. Hush-puppy "deep-fried ball of cornmeal batter" first attested 1918; as a type of lightweight
EXPAND
soft shoe, it is a proprietary name, registered 1961.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

hush (so) definition


  1. tv.
    to make someone be quiet. : Please hush your baby up!
  2. tv.
    to kill someone. : Nobody knew how to get to Mr. Gutman to hush him up.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

hush (sth) up definition


  1. tv.
    to keep something a secret; to try to stop a rumor from spreading. : We wanted to hush up the story, but there was no way to do it.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

hush up

Keep from public knowledge, suppress mention of. For example, They tried to hush up the damaging details. [First half of 1600s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature