hush up

phrasal verb·1 sense·particle up

Usefulness

Meanings

1

Keep wrongdoing or bad news secret

Hidinguncommon

Why “up”? Something is hidden from view or kept secret inside.

“They tried to hush up the mistake.”
They tried to keep the mistake secret.
“The school hushed up the complaint.”
The school kept the complaint secret.

Test yourself

“They tried to hush up the mistake.” What does it mean?

Nearby in the meaning map

Sink In connects verbs by particle pattern, contrast pairs, and shared base verbs.

bottle up

Same up pattern: hiding

Hide strong feelings inside

cover up

Same up pattern: hiding

Hide something by placing a covering over it; Conceal a mistake, crime or wrongdoing from others; Do someone else's job temporarily while they are away

Sink In app icon

Sink In — iOS & Android

Practice “hush up” in Sink In

Drill “hush up” and 1,300+ other phrasal verbs with spaced repetition, organised by the particle patterns that connect them.

  • Learn the pattern behind dozens of verbs at once — not one-off translations.
  • Spaced repetition (SM-2) brings each meaning back right before you forget.
  • Four practice modes train recall and discrimination, not just recognition.
1,300+ phrasal verbs26 particle patternsBuilt for B1–C2
App StoreGoogle Play
Sink In daily spaced-repetition practice session