English
hist
see also: Hist
Interjection
  1. (dated) An utterance used to discreetly attract someone's attention.
  2. (dated) An injunction to be silent and/or to pay attention to what is being said or can be heard.
    • 1827, James Fenimore Cooper, The Prairie, Chapter XI,
      "My worthy Nelly! I am greatly rejoiced to find it is no other than thee. Hist! child, hist! Should Ishmael gain a knowledge of our plans, he would not hesitate to cast us both from this rock, upon the plain beneath. Hist! Nelly, hist!"
    • 1850, Edgar Allan Poe, Scenes from "Politian", 2009 [1902], Charles F. Richardson (editor), The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Volume 1: Poems, [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=e6RDPGFlgBkC&pg=PA87&dq=%22Hist!+hist!+thou+canst+not+say%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=9XpxVM_II-LamAXIjoHgCA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22Hist!%20hist!%20thou%20canst%20not%20say%22&f=false page 87],
      Hist! hist! thou canst not say / Thou hearest not now Baldazzar?,
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapter 99,
      There’s a clue somewhere; wait a bit; hist—hark! By Jove, I have it!
Synonyms Translations
  • Russian: тсс
Noun

hist (plural hists)

  1. (dated) An instance of an exclamation attracting attention or injunction to be silent.
    • 1796, Fanny Burney, Camilla, unnumbered page ↗,
      'A tinker!' repeated Sir Hugh, quite loud, in defiance of the signs and hists! hists! of Camilla, 'good lack! that's a person I should never have thought of!'
Noun

hist (uncountable)

  1. Abbreviation of history#English|history.
Verb

hist (hists, present participle histing; past and past participle histed)

  1. (US) Pronunciation spelling of hoist#English|hoist.
    • 1952, R. A. Atkinson, Uncle Aaron Peddles a Possum, 2010 [1976], J. Mason Brewer (editor), Dog Ghosts and The Word on the Brazos (Combined edition), page 30 ↗,
      When he spy de train a-comin' 'roun' de curve, he hists de hankershuf way up ovuh his haid for hit to stop, an' when de engineer rech de spot whar Unkuh Aaron stannin', he jumps down outen his seat to de groun' an asts Unkuh Aaron de why he stop de train.
Hist
Noun
  1. History (in journal titles such as "J Hist Neurosci" - "Journal of the History of Neuroscience").


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