Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Hush \Hush\, n.
Stillness; silence; quiet. [R.] ``It is the hush of night.''
--Byron.
Hush money, money paid to secure silence, or to prevent the
disclosure of facts.
--Swift.
Wiktionary
n. A bribe to maintain secrecy (to prevent bad publicity or to prevent the discovery of a crime).
WordNet
n. a bribe paid to someone to insure that something is kept secret
Wikipedia
Hush money is a slang term for a form of bribery, in which one person or party offers another an attractive sum of money or other enticement, in exchange for remaining silent about some illegal, stigmatic, or shameful behavior, action, or other fact about the person or party who has made the offer.
The person or party who presents the hush money may be attempting to avoid criminal prosecution, a lawsuit (as sometimes in the case of an out-of-court settlement), a leak of information to the news media, or silence about a stigmatic issue within one's own community. The information being covered up may include illegal activity, such as drug dealing, or some personal secret, such as an extramarital affair. In some cases, a government agency may be involved in the offer of hush money in order to protect the agency's employees, politicians and their appointees, or a national government in its standing among other nations in the world. It is usually given under the table.
Hush Money is a 1931 American Pre-Code comedy-drama film featuring Joan Bennett, Hardie Albright, Owen Moore, Myrna Loy, and George Raft. The movie was directed by Sidney Lanfield.
Hush Money is a lost 1921 American drama silent film directed by Charles Maigne and written by Charles Maigne and Samuel Merwin. The film stars Alice Brady, George Fawcett, Larry Wheat, Harry Benham and Jerry Devine. The film was released in November 1921, by Paramount Pictures.
Hush Money is the 26th book in Robert B. Parker's Spenser series and first published in 1999.
Spenser investigates university politics when Robinson Nevins is denied university tenure.
Usage examples of "hush money".
And so she makes her greedy bid for hush money and in so doing igns her death warrant.
But I'll bet you hipped him to something about Reynolds Loftis back around '43, '44 or so, and Gordean started collectin' hush money on it.
I suggest, Major, that you impress upon her in the strongest possible terms that it should be considered hush money.
Five thousand for the American Express file, fifty for the Gotti stuff, another two hundred in hush money.
They had involved nearly seven hundred thousand dollars in hush money and the sanction of at least one person-the godfather of the fellow, who had clawed his eyes out.
They had involved nearly seven hundred thousand dollars in hush money and the sanction of at least one person - the godfather of the fellow, who had clawed his eyes out.