hush1 verbhush2 noun
hushhush1 /hʌʃ/ verb 
WORD ORIGINhush1
Origin:
1500-1600 husht ‘silent, hushed’ (15-19 centuries), from husht a word used to tell people to keep quietVERB TABLE
hush
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | hush |
| he, she, it | hushes | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | hushed |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have hushed |
| he, she, it | has hushed | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had hushed |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will hush |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have hushed |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am hushing |
| he, she, it | is hushing | |
| you, we, they | are hushing | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was hushing |
| you, we, they | were hushing | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been hushing |
| he, she, it | has been hushing | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been hushing |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be hushing |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been hushing |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- David hushed me. ""Sh-h-h. You're not allowed to speak in here.''
- I turned to Margaret but was hushed before I could open my mouth.
- She gave up trying to hush the baby and took him outside.
- Some of them waved their good lace hankies then hushed to silence at the way she spoke.
- The whole school would instantly become hushed and enthralled by the horror, watching.
- Were a great talent to appear, all that sort of talk would be hushed.
- Whatever we know about our neighbors is hushed and lulled by the deep repose.
Longman Language Activatorto make someone or something quieter
British /quiet somebody down American to make someone quieter and calmer, when they are making a lot of noise because they are angry, excited, or upset: · I spent half the lesson trying to quieten them down.· Sue managed to quiet them both down and eventually stopped the argument.
especially written to make someone suddenly stop speaking: · I opened my mouth to speak but she silenced me with an angry look.· Partick was livid, but Jane squeezed his arm to silence him.
to make someone, especially a child, make less noise or make no noise at all, especially by telling them in a quiet voice to stop talking or crying: · I turned to Margaret but was hushed before I could open my mouth.· David hushed me. "Sh-h-h. You're not allowed to speak in here.''· She gave up trying to hush the baby and took him outside.
if something muffles a sound it makes it quieter and less clear: · The snow muffled the sound of the traffic.· He dragged her into the car, putting his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams.· John's voice was muffled by the door, and I couldn't tell what he was saying.
to make a television, radio etc quieter by moving or turning a button or control: turn something/it/them down: · Do you mind turning the radio down?· Turn that music down, you'll wake the whole street!turn down something: · She turned down the volume on the TV and picked up the phone.turn something right downBritish /turn something all the way down American (=make it as quiet as possible): · No wonder you can't hear anything -- you've turned your hearing aid right down.
informal to make someone be quiet, especially by speaking to them rudely or angrily: · Can't you shut those kids up?· The only way to shut her up is to give her something to eat.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
(=complete silence)
A deathly hush fell over the room.
A deathly hush fell over the room.· They sat at the far end of the carriage, talking in hushed tones.
· They spoke in the hushed whispers of churchgoers.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Or anything he has not been able to hush up.· A Tokyo professor who studied secret papers, claimed the horror was hushed up after the war.· Local journalists said yesterday they believed the authorities had hushed up crimes in the past.· He told the Guardian that he believed senior management took deliberate steps to hush up the dangers.· Labour chiefs branded the rush of openness too late after the Government had hushed up the payments for 18 months.· Three months later Hugo was drowned in a boating accident; there were rumours of suicide, which were hushed up.· No; my great-great-gran kept it hushed up.· When of course you can see he wants the whole thing hushed up.
NOUN· The kind of order that makes the hushed voices expect little divine intervention.· They headed for the park by the river, hushing their voices.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
1hush spoken used to tell people to be quiet, or to comfort a child who is crying or upset: - Hush, Darby, stop it.
- Hush, now. Try to get to sleep.
Hush, now. Try to get to sleep.2[transitive] written to make someone stop shouting, talking, crying etc: Ella asked them to hush their voices.3[intransitive] written to stop shouting, talking etc: The audience hushed as he stepped onto the stage.hush something ↔ up phrasal verb to prevent people from knowing about something dishonest or immoral SYN cover up: The whole affair was hushed up by the government.hush1 verbhush2 noun
hushhush2 noun EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- There was a sudden hush as the musicians came onto the stage.
- Two men walked in and went up to the bar. A hush fell over the room.
- A hush fell over the audience.
- A hush would often fall over the crowd because there were no crashing chandeliers, no story.
- For days this hush lay on the house like dust.
- The cries of protest are lost in thunderous applause, and then a hush descends.
- The pious hush in there had been too much for them.
- The quietness sealed inside her room emanated as an invisible but pervasive hush.
Longman Language Activatorwhen there is little or no noise
when there are no sounds at all: · Nothing disturbed the silence of the night.· There was a long silence before anyone answered.deathly silence (=a silence that makes people feel nervous and uncomfortable): · "What did you do during the war?" Rob asked. There was a deathly silence, and everyone looked down at the table.
a state in which there is little or no noise, especially in a place where people have all suddenly stopped talking - used especially in stories or descriptions of events: · There was a sudden hush as the musicians came onto the stage.a hush falls/descends (=people stop making noise): · Two men walked in and went up to the bar. A hush fell over the room.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY A sudden hush fell over the crowd. Let’s have a bit of hush, please, gentlemen.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1[singular] a period of silence, especially when people are expecting something to happen: A sudden hush fell over the crowd. Let’s have a bit of hush, please, gentlemen. (=complete silence) A deathly hush fell over the room.
A deathly hush fell over the room.· They sat at the far end of the carriage, talking in hushed tones.
· They spoke in the hushed whispers of churchgoers.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· A deathly hush fell, in which the sound of some one talking too loudly behind the main stand could clearly be heard.· There was a deathly hush over the whole show.· A deathly hush envelops the scene, a silence that seems almost sinister.
NOUN· Recently released from prison, Hubbell is once again under investigation by Starr, this time for allegedly accepting hush money.
A sudden hush fell over the crowd.2a bit of hush British English spoken used to ask people, especially noisy children, to be quiet: Let’s have a bit of hush, please, gentlemen.