Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Origin: husht 'silent, hushed' (15-19 centuries), from husht a word used to tell people to keep quiet

hush

1 verb
     
hush1
1

hush

spoken used to tell people to be quiet or to comfort a child who is crying or upset:
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 [= cover up]:
The whole affair was hushed up by the government.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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