hush
part of speech
verb (hush, hushes, hushed, hushing); noun (a hush); interjection (hush!)
meaning for a pupil
1) To hush someone is to make them be quiet or calm. tree →
2) As a command, «Hush!» means «Be quiet!». tree →
3) A hush is a sudden quiet, when everyone stops talking. tree →
4) To hush something up is to keep it secret so people do not find out, often something bad. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories a hush often comes just before something important happens: «A hush fell over the room». Parents hush babies with lullabies («Hush, little baby»). In news and history «hush it up» means hiding a scandal. Phrases: «a hush fell», «hush up», «hush-hush» (informal, secret), «hush money».
examples
- The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. (Writings JOB.29.10, JPS 1917) tree →
- «Hush now, the baby's asleep,» whispered Dad. tree →
- A hush fell over the hall when the head teacher walked in. tree →
- Mum hushed us when the phone rang. tree →
- The company tried to hush up the accident. tree →
- «Hush, little baby, don't say a word» is an old lullaby. tree →
- The plan is all very hush-hush, so don't tell anyone. tree →
- In the hush of the forest we heard a woodpecker. tree →
- "Hush," said John, and he told her some more. tree →
note
Past form «hushed». «A hushed voice» means a very quiet voice. «Hush-hush» is informal for «secret». «Hush money» is money paid to keep someone from telling a secret, which is often wrong or illegal. Countable as a noun only in «a hush».
In the corpora
- The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
- Now hush» («my lover» is just a friendly West Country «dear»).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «hush» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.