showing

Pluralshowings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of show.

   The gallery is showing works by several local artists this month.

   Showing kindness to strangers rarely costs anything.

   Note

   The verb form and the nouns share a spelling but not an ancestor. This one descends from the Old English present participle sċēawiende, from a root meaning "to look, observe". It carries every use of show, including the intransitive ones: a light showing under the door, guests not showing till late. It never takes a plural. Showings belongs only to the noun for a screening.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   An occasion on which something is presented or displayed for an audience.

   The gallery's evening showing attracted dozens of collectors.

   Tickets for the late showing sold out within minutes.

   Similarscreening, viewing, exhibition, presentation, performance

   Note

   An old noun, not a recent coinage from the verb. Old English sċēawung already meant "a show, appearance" alongside "a looking at". Today it names a scheduled presentation, and it counts easily: a theater can run several showings in one night. Times and dates attach naturally to it, as in the midnight showing or the late showing.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A result or performance, judged by how well someone or something did.

   A poor showing in the early polls forced the candidate to rethink her strategy.

   The startup made an impressive showing at the investor conference.

   Similarperformance, result, display, appearance

   Note

   Here the showing is something judged, and it almost always comes with an evaluating adjective and the verb make: a poor showing, an impressive showing. The judging side is old as well. The Old English source of the "occasion" noun, sċēawung, also meant "survey, examination" and "consideration", which is looking at something in order to weigh it.

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