quiet

From Middle English quiete, from Old French quiet (adjective) and quiete (noun), from Latin quiētus, past participle of quiēscere (“to keep quiet, rest”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“rest”). Doublet of coy, quit, and quietus.

Quiet! The children are sleeping.


silence

From Middle English silence, from Old French silence, from Latin silentium (“silence”), from silēns (“quiet, silent”, present participle of silēre) + -ium. Displaced native Old English swīġe and sālnes.

af

present participle of <i class="Latn mention" lang="la">silēre</i>

Silence! Enough of your insolence!

(in response to laughter from the audience)
Silence! I kill you!

2007 September 17, Spark of Insanity, spoken by Achmed the Dead Terrorist (Jeff Dunham):


shut up

en-verb

shut up (third-person singular simple present shuts up, present participle shutting up, simple past and past participle shut up)

shuts up (present singular third-person)
shutting up (participle present)
shut up (participle past)
shut up (past)

release

antonym(s) of “put (someone) in a secure enclosed place”

You are talking so loud that I can't hear the music – would you mind shutting up?

He was blathering on about something, but I managed to shut him up.

Shut up!

This is a quote from the letter: "Went to the Senate yesterday and you should have seen the carrying on they did. I could hardly get them to shut up so I could speak, and they did the same thing after I had finished. Some said the Senate never did carry on so over any president or anybody else."

1965, Harry S. Truman, 0:20 from the start, in MP2002-442 Former President Truman Discusses Problems Faced During the Potsdam Conference, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 595162:

Shut up and sleep with me / Come on, why don't you sleep with me?

1995, “Shut Up (And Sleep With Me)”, in Golden Boy, performed by Sin With Sebastian:

He really doesn't know when to shut up and leave it to those at the heart of the negotiations, who fully understand and appreciate all the nuances, to try and hammer out a deal.

2022 August 10, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Striking a fair balance”, in RAIL, number 963, page 3:

(ergative, derogatory, often imperative) Of a person, to stop talking or (of a person or thing) making noise.

затварям

enclose (a person, animal or thing) in a room or other place so that it cannot leave

карам да замълчи

transitive: to stop (a person) from talking or (a person or thing) from making noise

млъквам

intransitive: to stop talking or making noise

hush

to stop (a person) from talking or (a person or thing) making noise


mute

mute (third-person singular simple present mutes, present participle muting, simple past and past participle muted)

mutes (present singular third-person)
muting (participle present)
muted (participle past)
muted (past)

From Middle English muet, from Anglo-Norman muet, moet, Middle French muet, from mu (“dumb, mute”) + -et, remodelled after Latin mūtus.


taciturn

en-adj

taciturn (comparative more taciturn, superlative most taciturn)

more taciturn (comparative)
most taciturn (superlative)

Back-formation from taciturnity, from Middle English taciturnite, from Latin taciturnitās; or alternatively from French taciturne, likely reinforced by Latin taciturnus, from tacitus (“secret, tacit”).

The two sisters could hardly have been more different, one so boisterous and expressive, the other so taciturn and calm.

We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the eclat of a proverb.

1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 18:

We spent a lot of time up on the staging of the great furnaces, trying to pick up the tricks of the trade from the taciturn furnacemen who sat around placidly smoking, or chewing twist, and occasionally throwing in more pig iron to the molten white-hot metal.

1945 January and February, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 14:

Silent; temperamentally untalkative; disinclined to speak.


rest

en-noun

rest (countable and uncountable, plural rests)

From Middle English rest, reste, from Old English ræst, from Proto-West Germanic *rastu, from Proto-Germanic *rastō, from Proto-Indo-European *ros-, *res-, *erH- (“rest”). Cognate with West Frisian rêst (“rest”), Dutch rust (“rest”), German Rast (“rest”), Swedish rast (“rest”), Norwegian rest (“rest”), Icelandic röst (“rest”), Old Irish árus (“dwelling”), German Ruhe (“calm”), Albanian resht (“to stop, pause”), Welsh araf (“quiet, calm, gentle”), Lithuanian rovà (“calm”), Ancient Greek ἐρωή (erōḗ, “rest, respite”), Avestan 𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬨𐬈 (aⁱrime, “calm, peaceful”), Sanskrit रमते (rámate, “he stays still, calms down”), Gothic 𐍂𐌹𐌼𐌹𐍃 (rimis, “tranquility”). Related to roo.

rest

stick used to support the cue in snooker

Remember there's a rest at the end of the fourth bar.

(music, countable) A pause of a specified length in a piece of music.


shh

From hush. Likely imitative of a non-verbal utterance. Compare Scots whisht (“hush!”).


voiceless

A voiceless song in an ageless light / Sings at the coming dawn / Birds in flight are calling there / Where the heart moves the stones / It's there that my heart is calling / All for the love of you.

1994, Loreena McKennitt, The Mystic's Dream:


dead air

(idiomatic, broadcasting) An unintended interruption in a broadcast during which nothing is transmitted: a silent period on radio or a silent period with no picture on television.

(idiomatic, by extension) A quiet or awkward moment in a conversation where neither speaker is talking.


speechless

From Middle English specheles, from Old English sprǣċlēas (“speechless; without the power of speak”), from Proto-Germanic *sprēkalausaz, equivalent to speech + -less. Cognate with West Frisian sprakeleas (“speechless”), Dutch sprakeloos (“speechless”), German Low German spraaklos (“speechless”), German sprachlos (“speechless”).

cog

When he walked into his surprise birthday party, he was completely speechless.

The attack was so unwarranted and delivered with such venom that his unpreparedness for it left him speechless.

1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 62:

Not speaking; not knowing what to say; silent, especially due to surprise, amazement, etc.


hush

From Middle English huschen (“to hush”) (as past participle husht (“silent; hushed”) and interjection husht (“quiet!”)). Cognate with Low German huschen, hüssen (“to hush; lull”), German huschen (“to shoo; scurry”), Danish hysse (“to hush”), and maybe Albanian hesht.

It is the hush of night.

1816, Lord Byron, “Canto III”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Third, London: Printed for John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza LXXXVI:

And there fell a hush upon the gods when they saw that Māna rested, and there was silence on Pegāna save for the drumming of Skarl.

1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC:


deafening silence

en-noun

deafening silence (usually uncountable, plural deafening silences)

The suggestion that they work through the holidays met with deafening silence.

(idiomatic) A noteworthy silence, or absence of response, especially one signifying disapproval or lack of enthusiasm.

kiusallinen hiljaisuus

noteworthy silence or absence or response signifying disapproval or lack of enthusiasm


inaudible

Dogs can hear this whistle, but for people it is inaudible.

At first his voice was almost inaudible; but soon the spirit mastered the body, and his hollow but distinct tones gained a supernatural strength.

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXXII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 267:

Unable to be heard or not loud enough to be heard.


keep shtum

en-verb

keep shtum (third-person singular simple present keeps shtum, present participle keeping shtum, simple past and past participle kept shtum)

keeps shtum (present singular third-person)
keeping shtum (participle present)
kept shtum (participle past)
kept shtum (past)

If I tell you, you have to promise to keep shtum about it.

Charlie Blüthner is the shmatte king of Panama, and he wouldn't be where he is today if Benny hadn't kept shtum for him just like you did for me.

1996, John le Carré, The Tailor of Panama, London: Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN 978-0-340-68478-8; republished New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-345-42043-5, page 104

His only chance of survival was to keep schtum. His only way of saving the others was to keep schtum and the only chance of actually keeping schtum was not to be around to do any talking. He must escape. Now.

2010, M. T. McGuire, chapter 62, in Few Are Chosen (K'Barthan Series; part 1), United Kingdom: Hamgee University Press, →ISBN:

This evening, at a thinly attended meeting of the parliamentary party, Jim Sheridan demanded to know why ministers were interfering in the strike by the BA cabin crew – both Andrew Adonis and Gordon [Brown] denounced the strikers over the weekend. 'How have we got ourselves into this situation?' asked Ken Purchase, pointing out that there had been two ballots, the last of which came out 80 per cent in favour of strike action. 'We should either be keeping shtum or back the workers.'

2010, Chris Mullin, Decline & Fall: Diaries 2005–2010, London: Profile Books, →ISBN:

And I would plead that the situation is not unusual. It's just one of those things you're supposed to keep shtum about.

2012, Kevin Barry, Dark Lies the Island: Stories, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 12:

Reggie is another one who keeps shtum about things. But one Christmas, when I was over here and called in to wish them seasonal good cheer, we had a few whiskies and he got loquacious.

2013, Ann Granger, Bricks and Mortality (Campbell and Carter Mystery; 3), London: Headline Publishing Group, →ISBN:

(intransitive, colloquial, idiomatic) Not tell anyone; especially, keep silent about something that may be sensitive or secret.


shtum

Borrowed from Yiddish שטום (shtum, “mute, dumb, voiceless”), from Middle High German stum, from Old High German stum, from Proto-West Germanic *stumm. Cognate with German stumm, Dutch stom, Swedish stum. Doublet of stum.


shush

en-verb

shush (third-person singular simple present shushes, present participle shushing, simple past and past participle shushed)

shushes (present singular third-person)
shushing (participle present)
shushed (participle past)
shushed (past)

He wouldn't shush so I kicked him.

Shush, my parents are back!

(onomatopoeia, intransitive) To be quiet; to keep quiet.

The boy in front of us was making too much noise, so we shushed him.

The sequence where Sam carves off Jorah’s infected tissue in secret, stopping every few moments to shush his patient, is presented as comic relief why? Jorah reels back into a diagonal close-up whimpering like a dog. Yellow pus oozes to get those good gross-out laughs. Is the substance of this operation funny to anyone on its face?

2017 July 23, Brandon Nowalk, “The great game begins with a bang on Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club:

(onomatopoeia, transitive or intransitive) To ask someone to be quiet, especially by saying shh.


pregnant pause

A pause that gives the impression that it will be followed by something significant.


keep one's lips sealed

keep one's lips sealed (third-person singular simple present keeps one's lips sealed, present participle keeping one's lips sealed, simple past and past participle kept one's lips sealed)

keeps one's lips sealed (present singular third-person)
keeping one's lips sealed (participle present)
kept one's lips sealed (participle past)
kept one's lips sealed (past)

You can certainly trust me to keep my lips sealed about the matter.

(idiomatic) To keep quiet; to keep a secret; to not tell.


one's lips are sealed

You're talking a lot / But you're not saying anything / When I have nothing to say / My lips are sealed

1977, Talking Heads (lyrics and music), “Psycho Killer”, in Talking Heads: 77:

(idiomatic) One will not tell anyone else; one is keeping a secret.


pipe down

pipe down (third-person singular simple present pipes down, present participle piping down, simple past and past participle piped down)

pipes down (present singular third-person)
piping down (participle present)
piped down (participle past)
piped down (past)

The sex sense is related to lay the pipe.

Pipe down, children. I'm trying to work.

(idiomatic, intransitive) To be quiet; to refrain from being noisy.


noiseless

en-adj

noiseless (comparative more noiseless, superlative most noiseless)

more noiseless (comparative)
most noiseless (superlative)

The movements of the cat were noiseless as it approached the mousehole.

For by the hearth the children sit
Cold in that atmosphere of Death,
And scarce endure to draw the breath,
Or like to noiseless phantoms flit:
But open converse is there none, […]

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XX, page 33:


soundless

soundless (comparative more soundless, superlative most soundless)

more soundless (comparative)
most soundless (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-soundless.wav

a soundless tableau

Cassius. […] for your words, they rob the Hybla bees,
And leave them honeyless.
Antony. Not stingless too.
Brutus. O yes, and soundless too;
For you have stol’n their buzzing, Antony,
And very wisely threat before you sting.

1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

The Psalmist observes, That the Heavens declare the glory of God: And indeed, they celebrate his Praises, though with a soundless Voice, yet with so loud a one […] to our intellectual Ears, that he scruples not to affirm, that There is no Speech nor Language where their voice is not heard […]

1663, Robert Boyle, Some Considerations Touching the Usefulness of Experimental Naturall Philosophy, Oxford: Richard Davis, Essay 2, page 49:

The whole building, with its dark windows and soundless avenues, had an air strikingly forlorn and solitary.

1797, Ann Radcliffe, chapter 7, in The Italian, volume 2, London: T. Cadell Junior & W. Davies, page 225:

During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hang oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country […]

1839 September, Edgar Allan Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, in Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine, volume 5, page 145:

The names of men blow soundless by,
My fellows’ and my own.

1896, A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad, London: Grant Richards, published 1898, XXXVIII, p. 55:

All day a woman across the room from me has been rolling up her pages scroll-like and smoothing them out as soundless tears cascade down her face.

1984 August 18, Pam Mitchell, “We Must Not Silence Our Lives”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 6, page 8:


crickets

Sense 2 is derived from the cinematic metaphor of chirping crickets at night, signaling (otherwise) complete quiet.

to hear crickets

Since then, I've received no response. Not a word. Just… crickets.

We asked for an explanation, but all we got was crickets.

"We have one exclusive one block from Bee on Fifth and Seventy-third. Prewar. White-glove. Top-notch." His Queen's English posh London accent made it sound extra-fabulous. […] / "Do you maybe have any listings that are less? Like ... four million less?" I asked, semi-blushing. / "Four million or less? Sure!" / "No, no, no," I said. "Not four million or less. Four million less than five point three million, i.e., something in the one-to-one-and-a-half range." / "Oh." / Crickets.

2007, Jill Kargman, Momzillas, New York, N.Y.: Broadway Books, →ISBN:

Maria Chapelle-Nadal, a Democratic state senator, said she feared that the commission's findings would be announced with great fanfare, "but then we're just going to hear crickets, crickets, crickets."

2015 September 14, Monica Davey, “Panel studying racial divide in Missouri presents a blunt picture of inequity [print version: 'Report blunt on race inequity', International New York Times, 15 September 2015, page 7]”, in The New York Times:

Stopping a group of teenage boys at a museum [in Bangladesh] devoted to the 1971 war, I asked them which American leaders had played an important role in the conflict. Henry A. Kissinger? They looked at me with blank faces. Richard M. Nixon? Crickets.

2016 June 27, Ellen Barry, “To U.S. in ’70s, a dissenting diplomat. To Bangladesh, ‘a true friend.’ [print version: 'A dissenter remembered: Diplomat pushed U.S. to condemn Pakistan’s 1971 assault on Dhaka', International New York Times, 29 June 2016, page 2]”, in The New York Times:

(often singular, US, Canada, figurative, slang, humorous) Used alone or in metaphorically descriptive phrases: absolute silence where meaningful sound is expected; lack of response; no communication.


tight-lipped

tight-lipped (comparative more tight-lipped, superlative most tight-lipped)

more tight-lipped (comparative)
most tight-lipped (superlative)

indiscreet

antonym(s) of “unwilling to divulge information”

He would have sprung upon Captain Blood, who stood aloof, alert, tight-lipped, and watchful.

1922, Rafael Sabatini, Captain Blood: His Odyssy, chapter XXV

Gaining the dak, they were joined on the veranda by four tight-lipped men.

1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XV, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 162:

(literal) Having the lips pressed tightly together, hence, not speaking.

The open access operator has remained tight-lipped over what may have caused the driver to suddenly apply the brake, but stressed that safety was its priority.

2022 May 4, “Network News: RAIB looking into emergency brake application of train at Peterborough”, in RAIL, number 956, page 12:

(idiomatic) Unwilling to divulge information.


closemouthed

closemouthed (comparative more closemouthed, superlative most closemouthed)

more closemouthed (comparative)
most closemouthed (superlative)

As much so as possible; they have hardly a way that you would like, my dear ma'am; and are as closemouthed as if they were afraid of committing themselves.

1852, James Fenimore Cooper, Home as found:

Instructors were notoriously closemouthed about their gunnery techniques.

2001, C. R. Anderegg, Sierra Hotel: flying Air Force fighters in the decade after Vietnam:


tumbleweed moment

en-noun

tumbleweed moment (plural tumbleweed moments)

From the motif in western movies where the wind blows tumbleweeds through the scene, usually to establish that the place is desolate or empty.

…real life television news quizzes have the benefit of careful editing to remove the tumbleweed moments.

2004 July 14, Laura Davis, “Arts Diary: STAGE QUIZ”, in Daily Post, Liverpool, England:

When you’re wondering if they might just sit there self-consciously not saying anything (a tumbleweed moment) you need to get away from the centre-front, start moving around.

2005 April 1, Trevor Wright, How to Be a Brilliant English Teacher, Routledge, →ISBN, page 78:

Peter Gibson, of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “in a world of daft pranks, we want littering to be that tumbleweed moment, the joke that falls flat on its face.”

2005 December 19, Robert Stansfield, “Gimp ad to shame litter louts”, in The Mirror, London, England:

(British, figuratively, broadcasting) A period of stony, unresponsive silence.


shushing

All except little Johnny, who fussed and fidgeted with a typical three-year-old's impatience at such things, mindless of his mother's quiet shushings.

2011, Janet Dailey, American Dreams, page 143:

The act of making a shush sound to silence somebody.


belt up

en-verb

belt up (third-person singular simple present belts up, present participle belting up, simple past and past participle belted up)

belts up (present singular third-person)
belting up (participle present)
belted up (participle past)
belted up (past)

(British, intransitive, colloquial, derogatory, usually in imperative) To stop talking or chattering; to shut up.


mute h

The French word homme ("man") begins with a mute h. Consequently we can say l'homme /l‿ɔm/ and les hommes /le‿zɔm/, but never /lə ɔm/ and /le ɔm/, like we do with the aspirated h.

Whether the h be a mute h or an aspirate h, it may be regarded in either case as absolutely silent.

1913, James Geddes, French Pronunciation, page 83:

In French initial h’s are called either mute h’s (the greatest number) or aspirate h’s (fewer in number, but frequent nonetheless).

1994, Thomas M. Donnan, French Lyric Diction, page 83:

The only difference between the two is that a mute h allows contractions and liaisons in front of it, and an aspirated h does not.

2006, Laura K. Lawless, The Everything French Grammar Book, page 29:

(phonology) In the French language usage of the letter h at the start of a word which allows liaison with a preceding consonant.


silent as the grave

Perhaps connected to the idea of taking a secret to the grave, or the idea that dead men tell no tales.

“Livesey,” returned the squire, “you are always in the right of it. I’ll be as silent as the grave.”

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

“Well, then, if you’re bound to go, I’ll tell you the way to do when you get to the village. Shut the door and blindfold the doctor tight and fast, and make him swear to be silent as the grave, and put a purse full of gold in his hand, […]

1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XL, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC:

(idiomatic, simile) Saying absolutely nothing (especially about a particular subject).

нем, как ры́ба (nem, kak rýba, literally “silent like a fish”)

молчать, как пле́нный партиза́н (molčatʹ, kak plénnyj partizán, literally “be silent like a captured partisan”)


shoosh

shoosh (third-person singular simple present shooshes, present participle shooshing, simple past and past participle shooshed)

shooshes (present singular third-person)
shooshing (participle present)
shooshed (participle past)
shooshed (past)

"Sh!"
"I won't shoosh!["]

1916, George Barr McCutcheon, From the Housetops, Chicago, New York: M. A. Donohue, page 110:

She raised two fingers to Boogaloo's lips, lightly touched them, shooshed him quiet.

2012, Fred Arroyo, “A Case of Consolation”, in Western Avenue and Other Fictions (Camino del Sol), Tucson: University of Arizona Press, →ISBN, page 8:

Actually, what she'd be telling him now was to get Ed home. Because he was really crying.
'Shoosh Ed, shoosh little Eddie-boy.'

2021, Breton Dukes, “What Sort of Man”, in What Sort of Man and other stories, Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press, →ISBN:

To shush, to hush, to be quiet; to tell someone to be quiet.


break the silence

break the silence (third-person singular simple present breaks the silence, present participle breaking the silence, simple past broke the silence, past participle broken the silence)

breaks the silence (present singular third-person)
breaking the silence (participle present)
broke the silence (past)
broken the silence (participle past)

The Free Tibet campaign is calling on world leaders to break the silence, claiming they "continue to refrain from publicly speaking out for Tibet".

2012 June 19, Julian Baggini, “Why it's not the Dalai Lama's job to break the silence on Tibet”, in The Guardian:

To state an opinion on a subject that has been taboo for a period of time.


speech is silver, silence is golden

(idiomatic) Not saying anything is often better than speaking too much or saying something inappropriate.

إِنْ كَانَ الْكَلَامُ مِنْ فِضَّةٍ فَالسُّكُوتُ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ

puhuminen on hopeaa, vaikeneminen kultaa

la parole est d’argent, le silence est d’or

brʒnulad saubari vercxlia, xolo dumili okro

ბრძნულად საუბარი ვერცხლია, ხოლო დუმილი ოქრო

la parola è d'argento, il silenzio è d'oro

a palavra é de prata, o silêncio é de ouro

сло́во — серебро́, молча́ние — зо́лото (slóvo — serebró, molčánije — zóloto)


Harpocrates

From Ancient Greek Ἁρποκράτης (Harpokrátēs), from Egyptian ḥr-pꜣ-ẖrd, from ḥr (“Horus”) + pꜣ (“the”) + ẖrd (“child”).

(Greek mythology) The god of silence, secrets and confidentiality.

Roman goddess of trust and confidentiality


silent as the tomb

silent as the grave
silent as the grave#English


fall silent

fall silent (third-person singular simple present falls silent, present participle falling silent, simple past and past participle fell silent)

falls silent (present singular third-person)
falling silent (participle present)
fell silent (participle past)
fell silent (past)

I've seen the stars fall silent from your eyes / All the sights that I have seen

2003, R.E.M. (lyrics and music), “The Great Beyond”, in In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003:


unspoken water

Of the virtues of south-running water, and 'onspoken water' it is unnecessary to speak. It may be mentioned, however, that in this part of the country the use of unspoken water is not altogether discontinued, and that a south-running stream is still held in some reverence.

1839, The Book of Bon-accord: Or, a Guide to the City of Aberdeen, page 364:

What you do when anyone who is dying has to be cured, is to go and fetch unspoken water. You tak'a pitcher, and get some water that flows under a bridge ovver which living folk walk, and dead folk are borne.

If the shilling stuck to the bottom of the cog, the animal was under the spell of a witch, but the unspoken water had taken effect, and a cure would follow. My informant has been sent on an errand of this kind.

1898, Helen Wheeler Bassett, Frederick Starr, The International Folk-lore Congress of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, July, 1893 ..., page 58:

When the young couple return from the spring, they fill their mouths with the unspoken water and try to spirt it on each other inside the door of the house.

1922, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: pt. IV, … 3d ed., rev. and enl. 1914, page 246:

It is in connection with unspoken water. This name was given to "water from under a bridge over which the living pass and the dead are carried , brought in the dawn or twilight to the house of a sick person without the bearers speaking either in going or returning."

1924, Charles Stewart Black, The Scots Magazine, page 175:

The old lady also claimed to be the last woman in Torry to have cured a child using 'unspoken water'. The infant was wasting away and the mother was convinced it was a fairy changeling or had been otherwise cursed by the fairies.

2010, Geoff Holder, Guide to Mysterious Aberdeen, The History Press, →ISBN:

Those would be the bottles of unspoken water he had heard about, water taken from beneath a bridge over which the living walk and the dead are carried, brought to the house at twilight or dawn without the bringer ever saying a word ...

2013, Robert Crichton, The Camerons: A Novel, Sarah Crichton Books, →ISBN:

Water collected by someone who remains silent, particularly from under a bridge which leads to a cemetery (though in some folkloric practices, from a well or spring instead), believed to have magical curative properties.