Word.ws English Dictionary

running the show

running the show is the present participle and gerund of run the show.

Meaning of run the show

Verb

run the show (third-person singular simple present runs the show, present participle running the show, simple past ran the show, past participle run the show)

  1. (idiomatic) To be the leader, to be in charge.
    • "Far's I can see. Young Alf's made up his mind to learn the dentist business, and the old folks are backin' him; so I don't see but I've got to stop on and run the show. Father's gettin' up in years now."1904, Sara Jeannette Duncan, The Imperialist

Questions about running the show

What is running the show the present participle and gerund of?
Running the show is the present participle and gerund of run the show.

Words near running the show in the dictionary

  1. running the gantlope
  2. running the gauntlet
  3. running the gauntlope
  4. running the risk
  5. running the rule over
  6. running the show
  7. running the table
  8. running the whole show
  9. running therapies
  10. running therapy
  11. running thin

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: running the show (page history and authors); run the show (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.

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