# show

Pronunciation: say "SHOH" US /ʃoʊ/, UK /ʃəʊ/

## Verb

1. To display something or make someone see it, by holding it out or pointing to it.
   - Simple: To let someone see something, to put it where they can look at it.
   - _He showed the guard his ticket._
   - _I'll show you where we keep the keys._
2. To demonstrate a fact or make it evident through evidence, argument or results.
   - Simple: To prove that something is true, or make it clear with facts or evidence.
   - _The data show a clear link between the two._
   - _Tests showed the water was safe to drink._
5. To put in an appearance or turn up. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To arrive or turn up where you are expected, an informal use.
   - _Half the guests didn't show._
   - _If she shows, tell her I left._
6. To be visible or become noticeable, including when a pregnancy begins to be seen.
   - Simple: To be seen or start to be noticed.
   - _Her tiredness was beginning to show._
   - _The old paint shows through where the new coat is thin._
8. To present a film or program to viewers, or, of a film or program, to be screening or on the air.
   - Simple: To play a movie or TV program for people to watch, or of a movie or program, to be playing.
   - _The network plans to show the final game live at eight o'clock._
   - _The documentary is now showing at selected theaters across the country._
9. To teach someone a skill or task by demonstrating it or by talking them through each step.
   - Simple: To help someone learn to do something by doing it while they watch, or by telling them each step.
   - _On her first day, a coworker showed her how to process returns at the register._
   - _The video tutorials show beginners how to replace a leaky faucet without calling a plumber._
10. To give or extend an attitude or treatment, such as mercy, favor, kindness or respect, to someone.
   - Simple: To give someone a feeling or treatment, such as mercy, respect, or kindness.
   - _We should show more patience with him._
   - _They were shown every courtesy._
12. To display artwork, animals, or products to the public at a gallery, exhibition, or contest, or to be an exhibitor at one.
   - Simple: To let the public see art, animals, or goods at a gallery, fair, or contest, or to take part in one.
   - _More than two hundred cattle breeders are showing at the state fair this year._
   - _Local craftspeople show their pottery and jewelry at the market every spring._
13. To guide or escort someone to a place, often with in, out, or around.
   - Simple: To take someone to a place, or lead them the way there.
   - _She showed the visitors around the factory._
   - _I'll show you out._
16. In card games, to reveal one's hand by turning the cards face up when the betting ends.
   - Simple: In card games, to turn your cards face up so the others can see them.
   - _If nobody bets, the last player to act must show first._
   - _She showed a full house._
17. Of a runner in a race, to finish third, the last of the three results a bettor can back. *(US, Canada)*
   - Simple: In horse or dog racing, to come in third place.
   - _The favorite only managed to show._
   - _Our horse showed in the last race, so we won a little of our money back._
24. To make an emotion, trait, or attitude visible in one's conduct, expression, or actions, intentionally or not.
   - Simple: To let people see a feeling or quality in your face or actions, on purpose or not.
   - _Her face showed no surprise when the verdict was read._
   - _Good managers show patience with new staff, even on the busiest days._
25. 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. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To prove people wrong by doing well after they doubted you, or to make someone sorry for treating you badly.
   - _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._

## Noun

3. A radio or television program, especially one of light entertainment.
   - Simple: A program on television or radio, especially one made to entertain.
   - _They binge-watched the whole show in a weekend._
   - _The game show has run for thirty years._
4. A public entertainment, such as a play, musical, concert, circus, or film screening, that people go to watch.
   - Simple: An entertainment event, like a play, concert, or film, that people go to watch or hear.
   - _The band played two shows in one night._
   - _Tickets for the show sold out in an hour._
7. A public exhibition or fair where animals, products, or other things are displayed and often judged, sometimes with rides and other entertainment.
   - Simple: An event where things or animals are put on display and often judged, sometimes with rides and fun.
   - _He won first prize at the flower show._
   - _The gallery's spring show opens Friday._
11. A demonstration or display made so that it is seen and counted.
   - Simple: An act of making something clear to everyone, as in a show of strength.
   - _The fleet sailed past in a show of strength._
   - _Her visit was a show of solidarity with the strikers._
14. An outward display or appearance put on to impress or mislead, without the reality behind it, as in all show or for show.
   - Simple: A way of looking or acting that is only meant to impress or fool people, with nothing real behind it.
   - _His concern for the staff was pure show._
   - _They keep a few books on the shelf for show._
15. A project, operation, or presentation spoken of as if it were a staged production, with someone running it.
   - Simple: A plan, event, or piece of work seen as something being put on.
   - _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._
18. In baseball, the major leagues, seen as the top a player can reach; used with 'the'.
   - Simple: In baseball, the major leagues, always said as the show.
   - _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._
19. In childbirth, a discharge of blood-streaked mucus from the vagina shortly before labor, as the mucus plug comes away.
   - Simple: A small amount of blood-streaked mucus that comes from the vagina shortly before labor starts.
   - _The midwife said a show meant things were moving._
   - _Call us if there is a show or your waters break._

## Noun

20. A sign, token, or indication of a state or of something to come. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A sign or token of something, in older writing.
22. Plausibility; the appearance of being true or reasonable that an argument or excuse may have. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The quality of seeming true or reasonable, an obsolete use.
23. In mining, the pale blue cap that firedamp puts on a candle flame, revealing the gas. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: In old mining, a pale blue cap on a candle flame that warned of explosive gas.

## Verb

21. To have a certain appearance, well or ill, or to become or suit, used with an adverb of judgment. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To look a certain way, well or badly, or to suit someone, an obsolete use.

## Other meanings

- (noun) Among soldiers, a battle or local action, spoken of as a performance one goes into.
- (noun) A fragment of the woody husk of flax or hemp, stripped from the fiber as waste.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 5–6, 8–10, 12–13, 16–17, 21, 24–25** — From Middle English schewen, from Old English scēawian ("to look, exhibit, display"), from Proto-Germanic *skawwōną ("to look, see"), and ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to heed, look, take note of." It is related to German schauen ("to see, behold") and Dutch schouwen ("to inspect, view"), and also to English sheen.
**Meanings 3–4, 7, 11, 14–15, 18–20, 22–23** — From Middle English schewe, formed from the verb schewen ("to show").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/show (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).