Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small, round or slightly oblong cake of cornmeal fried in deep fat.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun deep-fried cornbread ball (southern)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps from their having been used as snacks for dogs to quiet them while a meal was being eaten.]

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Examples

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Comments

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  • A fun name for a food! Hush puppies are deep-fried fritters popular in the South.

    January 5, 2007

  • See also hush puppies?

    October 17, 2007

  • Yep. But I like the singular better for my list. :-)

    October 17, 2007

  • Ooo, trivet and I have matching lists!

    October 18, 2007

  • list buddies!

    October 18, 2007

  • I have that list name too! We must be Wordtuplets.

    October 18, 2007

  • aaaaw!

    October 18, 2007

  • Ostensibly named because cooks would throw lumps of fried batter to the hounds during hoo-has to quiet them.

    By some tellings, dog salmon get their name similarly.

    May 16, 2008

  • Asativum, is that the same as a hoo-hah? (I'm referencing the conversation on that page more than the spelling. I think they mean the same thing...)

    May 16, 2008

  • Yes indeedy, a hoo-hah it was meant to be.

    May 19, 2008

  • Well, they're the same thing according to WeirdNet, aren't they? And when there are hoo-has around, there's usually going to be a hoo-hah anyway. Am I right? Am I right? ;)

    May 19, 2008