show

Less common meanings

13. 13
    take somewhereverbtransitive

    To guide or escort someone to a place, often with in, out, or around.

    She showed the visitors around the factory.

    I'll show you out.

    UsageShow someone to a room or around a place. I'll show you out offers to take someone to the exit.

    Similarguide, lead, escort, take, usher

14. 14
    for looks onlynoununcountable

    An outward display or appearance put on to impress or mislead, without the reality behind it, as in all show or for show.

    His concern for the staff was pure show.

    They keep a few books on the shelf for show.

    Similarpretense, facade, front, sham

    Oppositesubstance, reality, sincerity

    Note

    Something is all show when it impresses but delivers nothing, or it is done for show, only to be seen. Older writing could set the bare noun beside its partners, as in Edward Young's "I envy none their pageantry and show." Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Edward Young wrote the quoted words in Satire I of Love of Fame, the Universal Passion. gutenberg.org
15. 15
    nouncountable or uncountable

    A project, operation, or presentation spoken of as if it were a staged production, with someone running it.

    The merger was his show from start to finish.

    Now that the founder has retired, his daughter is running the whole show at the bakery.

    UsageCommon idioms: run the show, get this show on the road (let's start).

    Similaroperation, project, affair

    Note

    Everyday talk treats any undertaking as a production, and the idioms keep the stage in view. Get this show on the road means let's start. A road show is a traveling presentation, such as a tour to sell shares to investors. A dog and pony show is a slick, rehearsed pitch, usually mentioned with some scorn. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • A financial road show can involve traveling to meet prospective investors to market shares. stblaw.com
16. 16
    reveal cardsverbintransitive

    In card games, to reveal one's hand by turning the cards face up when the betting ends.

    If nobody bets, the last player to act must show first.

    She showed a full house.

    Similarreveal

    Note

    At the card table the object is understood: to show is to turn your own hand face up. Poker players use it for the reveal at the end, which is why a player who has already called can still put off showing until the river, the last card dealt. Like call and fold, it needs no object in this use. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • At showdown, remaining players reveal their hands after the final betting round. en.wikipedia.org
    • Calling an earlier bet need not immediately reveal the caller's cards; showing can wait until the river and subsequent showdown. pokerstars.com
    • In Texas hold'em, the river is the final community card dealt. pokerstars.com
17. 17
    finish thirdverbUSCanadaintransitive

    Of a runner in a race, to finish third, the last of the three results a bettor can back.

    The favorite only managed to show.

    Our horse showed in the last race, so we won a little of our money back.

    Note

    Racing results come in a fixed trio of verbs: win for first, place for second and show for third. Each pays its own price, so a results line reads naturally as Aces Up won, Blarney Stone placed, and Cinnamon showed, paying five dollars. The verb takes no object; the runner simply shows. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Win, place and show describe first, second and third in the illustrative racing result; the names and five-dollar payout are an example, not an identified historical race. en.wiktionary.org
    • Win, place and show wagers have their own payouts. assetsv2.nyra.com
18. 18
    major leaguesnouncountable or uncountablewith the

    In baseball, the major leagues, seen as the top a player can reach; used with 'the'.

    After six years of long bus rides in the minors, the catcher finally got called up to the show.

    He was called up to the show at twenty.

    UsagePlayers make the show or get called up to the show.

    Similarmajors, bigs

    Oppositeminors

    Note

    Baseball slang that always takes the: players make it to the show or get called up to it, never to a show. Everything below it, from rookie ball up through AAA, counts as the minors. That is why a player can spend years in AA ball and never make it to the show.

19. 19
    before labornouncountable or uncountable

    In childbirth, a discharge of blood-streaked mucus from the vagina shortly before labor, as the mucus plug comes away.

    The midwife said a show meant things were moving.

    Call us if there is a show or your waters break.

    Note

    In medicine and midwifery it is the ordinary term for this early sign of labor, usually with an article: a show, there was a show. The word simply names something that has become visible. Because of that, a general reader may not recognize the medical meaning without the context of a pregnancy. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • A show is a recognized early sign of labour involving the discharge of the mucus plug. nhs.uk
    • The term names a visible appearance of blood-streaked mucus. gutenberg.org
20. 20
    nounarchaiccountable or uncountable

    A sign, token, or indication of a state or of something to come.

    Note

    Old texts use it for any sign or token: no show of fear, the first show of fever. Modern writers say sign or indication instead. A show of plus a feeling still sounds natural when the display is deliberate. The sign of approaching labor keeps the old idea alive in one specialized corner. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Historically, show could mean a sign, token, or indication. en.wiktionary.org
    • A show is a specialized sign that the body is preparing for labor. lnwh.nhs.uk
21. 21
    verbobsolete

    To have a certain appearance, well or ill, or to become or suit, used with an adverb of judgment.

    My lord of York, it better showed with you.

    c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth,. Epilogue.”

    Note

    A Shakespearean construction with a judgment built in: things show well or ill, better or worse, with a person. "My lord of York, it better showed with you" means it suited you better. Modern English does this work with become, suit or look (it looked better on you). Use the old form only to echo older writing. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Shakespeare uses this construction; the quoted words are spoken by John of Lancaster in Henry IV, Part 2. folger.edu
    • The quotation means that the earlier activity suited the person better or was more fitting for him. en.wiktionary.org
22. 22
    nounobsoletecountable or uncountable

    Plausibility; the appearance of being true or reasonable that an argument or excuse may have.

    Note

    Old prose uses it for the look of being reasonable. An argument with a show of reason seems sound, which is not the same as being sound. The sense is obsolete, and today plausibility or seeming does the job. A reader meeting it in older writing should hear doubt in it, not proof. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Show has a historical sense meaning plausibility or apparent reasonableness. en.wiktionary.org
    • Older prose uses show of reason when questioning the apparent justification for a claim. gutenberg.org
23. 23
    gas flamenounobsoletecountable or uncountable

    In mining, the pale blue cap that firedamp puts on a candle flame, revealing the gas.

    Note

    Miners read this pale blue cap as a warning: the gas did the showing, rising onto an ordinary candle flame. The term is obsolete. It belongs to historical accounts of mining, and a general reader will usually need it explained, since the everyday meanings of the word give no clue to it. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • The mining noun show denotes a pale blue flame above a candle flame indicating firedamp. en.wiktionary.org
    • Historical mining accounts describe miners using the blue flame of burning firedamp as a warning of danger. gutenberg.org
24. 24
    verbtransitive

    To make an emotion, trait, or attitude visible in one's conduct, expression, or actions, intentionally or not.

    Her face showed no surprise when the verdict was read.

    Good managers show patience with new staff, even on the busiest days.

    UsageOften in the negative: showed no surprise, didn't show her fear.

    Similardisplay, reveal, express, exhibit

    Oppositehide, conceal

    Note

    Either the person or the giveaway can be the subject: she showed no surprise, or her face showed none. Drop the object and the feeling itself becomes the subject, which moves the verb into the plain "be visible" meaning: her impatience showed. Both constructions leave open whether the display was meant, so context or an added word (openly, in spite of herself) has to settle it.

25. 25
    verbcolloquialtransitive

    To prove wrong someone who doubted you by what you go on to achieve, or to get even with someone for a wrong they did.

    Everyone said the band would never make it, so the sold-out tour really showed them.

    She had the neighbors' car towed out of her space, figuring that would show them.

    UsageUsually just a person as object: I'll show them!, that'll show him.

    Similarteach

26. 26
    nounslang

    Among soldiers, a battle or local action, spoken of as a performance one goes into.
27. 27
    noun

    A fragment of the woody husk of flax or hemp, stripped from the fiber as waste.

    Old houses in the north-east sometimes have a thick layer of flax waste or “shows” under the thatch.

    1942, E[myr] Estyn Evans, Irish Heritage: The Landscape