# shower

Pronunciation: US say "SHOW-ur" /ˈʃaʊ.ɚ/; UK say "SHOW-uh" /ˈʃaʊ.ə(ɹ)/; AUS

## Noun

1. A device that sprays water down over a person for washing, or the cubicle that holds it.
   - Simple: A thing in a bathroom that sprays water down on you so you can wash.
   - _The plumber replaced the shower with a walk-in unit._
   - _Campers queue for the one working shower every morning._
2. An instance of bathing under a shower.
   - Simple: A wash under the shower.
   - _A cold shower after the run left her wide awake._
   - _Two showers a day in that heat seemed reasonable._
3. A brief fall of rain, or a similar fall of snow, sleet, or hail.
   - Simple: A short fall of rain, snow, or hail.
   - _The players left the field during a brief shower and returned once the rain had passed._
   - _The sun lit the farm for a moment before an advancing shower overwhelmed it._
5. A party held to celebrate an important event in someone's life, especially a coming marriage or the birth of a baby, at which guests give presents.
   - Simple: A party where guests give someone presents, especially before a wedding or the birth of a baby.
   - _Her friends threw her a baby shower a month before the due date._
   - _The bridal shower was held in her aunt's garden, with games and a big cake._
6. A quantity of something that falls or arrives like a rain shower.
   - Simple: A lot of small things falling or flying at once, like rain.
   - _Showers of red sparks rose into the night sky as he poked at the campfire._
   - _The coach got the traditional shower of sports drink after the win._
9. A group of people regarded as useless, incompetent, or contemptible; often in phrases such as 'a shower of wasters' or the vulgar 'shower of shit'. *(colloquial, British)*
   - Simple: An insulting word for a group of people you think are useless, lazy, or bad.
   - _Most replies asked what anyone could expect from this shower._
   - _The board that approved the plan was a shower, in the columnist's view._
10. A man whose flaccid penis is nearly its erect size, or such a penis. *(slang)* (pronounced: US say "SHOH-ur" /ˈʃoʊ.ɚ/; UK say "SHOH-uh" /ˈʃəʊ.ə(ɹ)/)
   - Simple: Slang for a man whose penis is nearly as big when soft as when hard, or for the penis itself.
   - _A urologist on the podcast said being a shower rather than a grower predicts nothing about erect size._
   - _Some men are showers, whose size hardly changes, and others growers._

## Verb

4. To bathe using a shower.
   - Simple: To wash yourself under a shower.
   - _The players shower and give interviews within twenty minutes of the final whistle._
   - _He was still showering when the doorbell rang._
7. To give or hand out something lavishly and in great quantities.
   - Simple: To give someone a lot of something, such as gifts or praise.
   - _Relatives showered the newborn with gifts and attention during their first visit._
   - _Critics tend to shower praise on any film she directs._
8. To fall, or make something fall, in many drops or small pieces like a shower of rain; to cover someone or something with liquid or small objects in this way (often 'shower someone with something').
   - Simple: To fall in lots of small drops or pieces, or to make them fall onto someone or something.
   - _Confetti showered onto the crowd from the upper balconies._
   - _Ash will shower over the town for days after the eruption._

## Noun

11. A battle or attack; armed conflict. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: In old use, a battle or attack.

## Other meanings

- (noun) In juggling, a pattern in which objects pass horizontally from one hand to the other at chest height and back over the head to the first hand.
- (noun) An object or activity shown in a contest, such as an animal entered at a fair.
- (noun) One who shows something.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–9, 11** — Old English sċūr became Middle English schour. It goes back through Proto-West Germanic *skūru and Proto-Germanic *skūrō, and possibly to a Proto-Indo-European root *(s)ḱēwer-, meaning north wind, cold wind or rain shower. Dutch schoer, German Schauer and Old Norse skúr are related.
**Meaning 10** — From Middle English showre, from Old English sċēawere ("an observer, one who examines a matter; a spy; a mirror; an actor"), equivalent to show + -er. It is related to Dutch schouwer ("observer, visionary") and German Schauer ("an inspector").

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