subs. (old: now recognised).—Money paid for silence, to quash a case, or stay a witness; a bribe; blackmail.
1709. STEELE, Tatler, No. 26. I expect HUSH-MONEY to be regularly sent for every folly or vice any one commits in this whole town.
1713. The Guardian, No. 26, 10 April. A poor chamber-maid has sent in ten shillings out of her HUSH-MONEY, to expiate her guilt of being in her mistress’s secret.
1725. A New Canting Dictionary, s.v.
1748. T. DYCHE, A New General English Dictionary (5 ed.), s.v.
1786. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.
1852. DICKENS, Bleak House, ch. xxxvii. To allow Ada to be made a bribe and HUSH-MONEY of, is not the way to bring it out.
1884. Spectator, p. 530. They were disappointed of their HUSH-MONEY, but he gave them an easy revenge.
