shh

Formsshhes, shhing, shhed

Pluralshhes, shhs

1. 1
   interjection

   Used to tell someone to be quiet or to lower their voice.

   Shh, they're about to announce the winner.

   He raised his hand and said, "Shh, listen to that."

   Similarquiet

   Note

   A noise before it is a word: it comes from hush and most likely imitates the sound people make to ask for quiet, much as Scots whisht ('hush!') does. Like a raised finger, it usually stands alone at the front of a sentence. A dash or comma sets it off, and the reason for silence follows: shh, listen.

2. 2
   interjection

   Used to soothe or comfort someone who is crying or distressed.

   Shh, sweetheart, the bad dream is over now.

   She held him close and whispered, "Shh, I've got you."

3. 3
   verbtransitive or intransitive

   To make a hushing sound at someone in order to call for quiet.

   Parents often shh their children during a performance.

   The crowd shhed as the conductor raised his baton.

   Similarshush, hush, silence, quiet

   Note

   The verb works both ways: you can shh a person (Aurora shhs him), or you can simply shh with no object at all. Its spellings double up: shhs or shhes, shhed for both past forms, and shhing for the participle. Chireal Shallow's The Gentle Sleep Solution (2015) uses it of babies, turning the soothing side of the comforting interjection into an action.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   An instance of making the hushing sound, used to call for silence.

   A gentle shh from the nurse settled the frightened child.

   Her repeated shhs finally silenced the restless audience.

   Similarhush

   Note

   Once the sound becomes a thing, it can be counted and given. The plural is spelled either shhs or shhes, and it pairs naturally with other written noises, as in 'hmms and shhs around the table'. Helen Wolfert's Nothing Is a Wonderful Thing (1946) shows the idiom of giving one: 'Jenny gives a shh,' the way someone gives a sigh or a nod.

5. 5
   noununcountableabbreviation

   see sonic hedgehog

   Alternative form of SHH.

   Researchers linked shh mutations to several birth defects.

   The shh protein guides cells during early development.

   Note

   A different word that only shares the spelling: a lowercase form of SHH, short for sonic hedgehog. As an initialism, SHH names both the protein (sonic hedgehog homolog) and the gene that encodes it. It is uncountable and typically stands before another noun, as in shh mutations or the shh protein. It has no connection to the call for silence; the likeness is a coincidence of letters.

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