hushaby

English

Alternative forms

• hush-a-bye

Etymology

Blend of hush +‎ lullaby or hush +‎ -a- (connective interfix) +‎ by (“goodbye, as in bye-bye”).

Interjection

hushaby

1. (archaic) hush and be still; a lull to sleep
   • 1805, Songs for the Nursery, page 5:

     Hush-a-by, baby, upon the tree-top; / When the wind blows the cradle will rock; / When the bough breaks the cradle will fall; / Down will come cradle and baby and all.

   • 1892. Eugene Field. Hushaby Sweet my Own. In With Trumpet and Drum. page 106 [1]:

     The night is fair, and the waves are still,

     And the wind is singing to you and to me

     In this lowly home beside the sea —

     Hushaby, sweet my own!

Noun

hushaby (plural hushabies)

1. A lullaby used to soothe babies to sleep.
   • 1832, Thomas Skinner, Excursions in India:

     The moaning of their voices seemed to me to be like what is understood in Scotland by a "sugh," and might very well have passed for a hushaby, when the nurse had nearly succeeded in murmuring herself to sleep, as well as her infant.

Verb

hushaby (third-person singular simple present hushabies, present participle hushabying, simple past and past participle hushabied)

1. (archaic, transitive) To lull to sleep by saying "hushaby".