Show Definition–verb (used with object) | 1. | to cause or allow to be seen; exhibit; display. | | 2. | to present or perform as a public entertainment or spectacle: to show a movie. | | 3. | to indicate; point out: to show the way. | | 4. | to guide, escort, or usher: He showed me to my room. Show her in. | | 5. | to explain or make clear; make known: He showed what he meant. | | 6. | to make known to; inform, instruct, or prove to: I'll show you what I mean. | | 7. | to prove; demonstrate: His experiment showed the falsity of the theory. | | 8. | to indicate, register, or mark: The thermometer showed 10 below zero. | | 9. | to exhibit or offer for sale: to show a house. | | 10. | to allege, as in a legal document; plead, as a reason or cause. | | 11. | to produce, as facts in an affidavit or at a hearing. | | 12. | to express or make evident by appearance, behavior, speech, etc.: to show one's feelings. | | 13. | to accord or grant (favor, kindness, etc.): He showed mercy in his decision. | –verb (used without object) | 14. | to be seen; be or become visible: Does my slip show? | | 15. | to be seen in a certain way: to show to advantage. | | 16. | to put on an exhibition or performance; display one's goods or products: Several dress designers are showing in New York now. | | 17. | Informal. to be present or keep an appointment; show up: He said he would be there, but he didn't show. | | 18. | to finish third in a horse race, harness race, etc. | –noun | 19. | a theatrical production, performance, or company. | | 20. | a radio or television program. | | 22. | an exposition for dealers or the public of products by various manufacturers in a particular industry, usually held in an exhibition hall, convention facility, or the like: the annual boat show. | | 23. | any kind of public exhibition or exposition: a show of Renoirs. | | 24. | ostentatious display: nothing but mere show. | | 25. | a display, exhibition, or demonstration: a true show of freedom
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. | | 26. | an indication; trace: He frowned on the slightest show of emotion. | | 27. | the position of the competitor who comes in third in a horse race, harness race, etc. Compare place (def. 27b), win 1 (def. 16). | | 28. | appearance; impression: to make a sorry show. | | 29. | a sight or spectacle. | | 30. | an unreal or deceptive appearance: The actress's tears had the show of grief. | | 31. | an act or instance of showing. | | 32. | a motion-picture theater. | | 33. | Informal. a chance: to get a fair show. | | 34. | Medicine/Medical. | a. | the first appearance of blood at the onset of menstruation. | | b. | a blood-tinged mucous discharge from the vagina that indicates the onset of labor. | | | 35. | Chiefly British Informal. any undertaking, group of persons, event, etc.; affair; thing. | —Verb phrases | 36. | show off, | a. | to display ostentatiously: The parade was designed to show off all the latest weapons of war. | | b. | to seek to gain attention by displaying prominently one's abilities or accomplishments. | | | 37. | show up, | a. | to make known, as faults; expose; reveal. | | b. | to exhibit in a certain way; appear: White shows up well against a blue background. | | c. | to come to or arrive at a place: We waited for two hours, but he didn't show up. | | d. | to make (another) seem inferior; outdo. | | —Idioms | 38. | make a show of, to be ostentatious about; affect: Whenever there are visitors, the bosses make a show of being nice to their employees. | | 39. | run the show, to control a business, situation, etc.; be in charge: My father runs the show in our house. | | 40. | steal the show, | a. | to usurp the credit or get the applause for something: That woman can act, but the child stole the show. He did all the work, but his partner stole the show. | | b. | to be the most pleasing or spectacular item or person in a group. | | | 41. | stop the show, to win such enthusiastic applause that a theatrical performance is temporarily interrupted. | |
