1. To hush up something (or hush something up) is to try to prevent information or facts from being revealed to other people.
If someone (usually someone in authority) hushes up something, they try to prevent other people knowing about it.
Examples of use:
a) The government tried to hush up the mistake.
b) He hushed up the company’s illegal dumping of toxic waste.
c) They tried to hush up the phone hacking story.
d) News headline: Illegal kidney transplant hushed up.
e) His assassination was hushed up.
cover up has very similar meaning to hush up
hush money (noun) is money paid secretly to stop damaging information becoming public knowledge.
2. Hush up also means be quiet.
Examples of use:
a) Hush up! I’m trying to think.
b) I wish you would hush up and let me finish my homework.
infinitive |
hush up |
present simple |
hush up and hushes up |
-ing form |
hushing up |
past simple |
hushed up |
past participle |
hushed up |
Can you use hush up in a sentence?
Can you think of something that has been hushed up?
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