Word.ws English Dictionary

have something to show for something

have something to show for something verb: to have (some profit, reward, benefit, etc.) as a result of (one's work, expenditure, etc.).

Verb

have something to show for something (third-person singular simple present has something to show for something, present participle having something to show for something, simple past and past participle had something to show for something)

  1. (idiomatic) To have (some profit, reward, benefit, etc.) as a result of (one's work, expenditure, etc.)
    • I've been panning for gold for two years, and this tiny speck is all I have to show for it.

Forms of have something to show for something

third-person singular presenthas something to show for something
present participlehaving something to show for something
past participlehad something to show for something
pasthad something to show for something

Questions about have something to show for something

What does have something to show for something mean?
Have something to show for something means to have (some profit, reward, benefit, etc.) as a result of (one's work, expenditure, etc.).
What part of speech is have something to show for something?
Have something to show for something is a verb.
What is the past tense of have something to show for something?
The past tense of have something to show for something is had something to show for something.

Words near have something to show for something in the dictionary

  1. have something going for one
  2. have something going with someone
  3. have something on good authority
  4. have something over someone
  5. have something over with
  6. have something to show for something
  7. have swallowed a dictionary
  8. have that shit on
  9. have the advantage of someone
  10. have the ball in one's court
  11. have the best of it

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: have something to show for something (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “have something to show for something.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/have_something_to_show_for_something. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.