hush
n. countablen. a sudden, quiet period when people stop talking or making noise. You often notice it when everyone is waiting for something important to happen.
n. a sudden silence or quietness, especially one that follows noise or precedes an event. Often used to describe a collective state of expectation or reverence.
A sudden hush fell over the room.
An expectant hush descended upon the stadium as the sprinter stepped into the starting blocks.
The heavy snowfall created a profound hush across the valley, muffling the usual sounds of traffic and industry until the world felt entirely still.
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.
Commonly appears in the singular form with the indefinite article ('a hush') and often pairs with the verbs 'fall', 'descend', or 'come over'.