Word.ws English Dictionary

runs the show

runs the show is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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 runs the show

What is runs the show the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Runs the show is the third-person singular simple present indicative of run the show.

Words near runs the show in the dictionary

  1. runs the gantlope
  2. runs the gauntlet
  3. runs the gauntlope
  4. runs the risk
  5. runs the rule over
  6. runs the show
  7. runs the table
  8. runs the whole show
  9. runs thin
  10. runs through
  11. runs to

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: runs 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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “runs the show.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/runs_the_show. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.