HUSH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hush mean? 

• HUSH (noun)
  The noun HUSH has 1 sense:

1. (poetic) tranquil silence

  Familiarity information: HUSH used as a noun is very rare.

• HUSH (verb)
  The verb HUSH has 5 senses:

1. become quiet or still; fall silent

2. cause to be quiet or not talk

3. become quiet or quieter

4. wash by removing particles

5. run water over the ground to erode (soil), revealing the underlying strata and valuable minerals

  Familiarity information: HUSH used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HUSH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(poetic) tranquil silence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

hush; still; stillness

Context example:

the still of the night

Hypernyms ("hush" is a kind of...):

quiet; silence (the absence of sound)

Domain category:

poesy; poetry; verse (literature in metrical form)

Derivation:

hush (become quiet or still; fall silent)

hush (cause to be quiet or not talk)

hush (become quiet or quieter)

• HUSH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they hush    ... he / she / it hushes   
Past simple: hushed   
Past participle: hushed   
-ing form: hushing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become quiet or still; fall silent

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

hush my baby!

Hypernyms (to "hush" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

hush ((poetic) tranquil silence)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to be quiet or not talk

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

hush; hush up; quieten; shut up; silence; still

Context example:

Please silence the children in the church!

Hypernyms (to "hush" is one way to...):

conquer; stamp down; subdue; suppress (bring under control by force or authority)

Cause:

hush (become quiet or still; fall silent)

Verb group:

hush; pipe down; quiesce; quiet; quiet down; quieten (become quiet or quieter)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hush"):

shush (silence (someone) by uttering 'shush!')

calm down; lull (become quiet or less intensive)

shout down (silence or overwhelm by shouting)

gag; muzzle (prevent from speaking out)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Also:

hush up (cover up a misdemeanor, fault, or error)

Derivation:

hush ((poetic) tranquil silence)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become quiet or quieter

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

hush; pipe down; quiesce; quiet; quiet down; quieten

Context example:

The audience fell silent when the speaker entered

Hypernyms (to "hush" is one way to...):

change intensity (increase or decrease in intensity)

Verb group:

hush; hush up; quieten; shut up; silence; still (cause to be quiet or not talk)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

hush ((poetic) tranquil silence)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Wash by removing particles

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Wash ores

Hypernyms (to "hush" is one way to...):

lave; wash (cleanse (one's body) with soap and water)

Domain category:

excavation; mining (the act of extracting ores or coal etc from the earth)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Run water over the ground to erode (soil), revealing the underlying strata and valuable minerals

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "hush" is one way to...):

irrigate; water (supply with water, as with channels or ditches or streams)

Domain category:

excavation; mining (the act of extracting ores or coal etc from the earth)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

They carried him through the wild roar, a hush in the midst of all the tumult; and took him to the cottage where Death was already.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“Bertrand,” said she, “hush and listen! I have heard the voices of men all singing together in a strange tongue.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But hush! no telling to others that make so inquisitive questions.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Hush, now, and wipe your eyes.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The house was still as death, and nothing but the wailing of the wind broke the deep hush.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“This is where they played the cards, Jim,” said I, in a hushed voice.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

All sound had hushed in the audience and everyone was absorbed in the spectacle before them.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When they hushed the astrocytes in rats by reducing transmitter release, the rats breathed and sighed at a lower rate than normal.

(Star-like cells may help the brain tune breathing rhythms, National Institutes of Health)

Several hours passed, and I remained near my window gazing on the sea; it was almost motionless, for the winds were hushed, and all nature reposed under the eye of the quiet moon.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

At last that strange hush was broken.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)