hush

B2 Topic:Senses & Perception

US /hʌʃ/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like hutch /tʃ/ vs /ʃ/

Freq #5201

Meanings

1

verb
To make someone or something become quiet, or to become quiet.

She gently hushed the crying baby.
2

noun
A sudden silence, especially after noise.

A hush fell over the room as the speaker began.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to make someone or... quieten silence still

2 noun · a sudden silence,... stillness

Word family

Forms hushedhusheshushing

Derived forms hush-uphushablehushenhushlinghushy

Common collocations

hush up Verb + adverb

Etymology

From Middle English huschen (“to hush”) (as past participle husht (“silent; hushed”) and interjection husht (“quiet!”)). Cognate with Low German huschen, hüssen (“to hush; lull”), German huschen (“to shoo; scurry”), Danish hysse (“to hush”), and maybe Albanian hesht.

huschen Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Senses & Perception Cause, Change & Process

External links

# hush

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /hʌʃ/
**Frequency rank:** 5201

## Meanings
1. To make someone or something become quiet, or to become quiet.
2. A sudden silence, especially after noise.

## Examples
- She gently hushed the crying baby.
- A hush fell over the room as the speaker began.

## Derived Forms
- hush-up
- hushable
- hushen
- hushling
- hushy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: huschen

## Etymology
From Middle English huschen (“to hush”) (as past participle husht (“silent; hushed”) and interjection husht (“quiet!”)). Cognate with Low German huschen, hüssen (“to hush; lull”), German huschen (“to shoo; scurry”), Danish hysse (“to hush”), and maybe Albanian hesht.

## AI Etymology
Hush comes from Middle English huschen (“to hush”) (as past participle husht (“silent; hushed”) and interjection husht (“quiet!”)). Cognate with Low German huschen, hüssen (“to hush; lull”), German huschen (“to shoo; scurry”), Danish hysse (“to hush”), and maybe Albanian hesht. In current use, the main senses are “To make someone or something become quiet, or to become quiet” and “A sudden silence, especially after noise”.

## Topics
- Senses & Perception
- Cause, Change & Process

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