Hushaby

intj, noun, verb

intj, noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A lullaby used to soothe babies to sleep.

    "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
  1. 1
    To lull to sleep by saying "hushaby". archaic, transitive
Intj
  1. 1
    hush and be still; a lull to sleep archaic

    "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."

Example

More examples

"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."

Etymology

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

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.