Word.ws English Dictionary

show

/ʃəʊ//ʃoʊ/

show verb: to display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something.

Verb

show (third-person singular simple present shows, present participle showing, simple past showed or (archaic) shew, past participle shown or (US or rare) showed)

  1. (transitive) To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something.
    • The king showed great wisdom in his decisions.
    • The actor showed Macbeth's confidence in this scene.
    1. (transitive) To indicate; to convey facts that lead to a conclusion.
      • The record shows that you have been late twelve times this year.
      • Our schedule is showing appointments all day.
    2. (transitive) To guide or escort; to show the way.
      • Could you please show him on his way. He has overstayed his welcome.
      • Who can show me to the office? I'll show you in.
    3. (transitive) To bestow; to confer.
      • to show mercy; to show favour
      • (dialectal) show me the salt please
    4. (transitive) To put on a movie, TV show, etc; to be presented in this way.
      • The cinema on Ninth Avenue is showing a couple family movies.
      • They showed episodes of some awful TV show on our flight.
    5. (transitive) To display artwork in a gallery or museum.
      • John is showing his work tonight.
      • The Smithsonian shows most of that artist's work.
    6. (transitive) To display on offer.
      • The store on Eighth Street is showing the new spring collection in the window.
    7. (transitive) To give hints to the apparent or purported nature of one's hand of cards.
      • There's a bunch of ways to show a bad hand.
    8. (intransitive, transitive) To reveal one's hand of cards.
      • He just wanted to finish this hand, so he showed as soon as he could.
      • He called instantly but was too ashamed to show until the river.2017, Nathan Schwiethale, Ace High: Mastering Low Stakes Poker Cash Games, page 70
    9. (intransitive, transitive) To participate in a dog show, cat show, etc.; to compete with an animal at such a show; to be entered and displayed at such a show.
      • That's why we don't show in Philadelphia anymore.
      • She's showing her poodle at the dog show.
  2. (transitive) To prove (a fact) to be true; to demonstrate; to instruct.
    • We showed that the hypothesis is correct.
    • She is showing how to complete the task.
    1. (reflexive, transitive) To reveal one's condition or nature.
      • She showed herself to be a jerk.
      • That shows what kind of person he is.
    2. (sometimes, transitive, usually emphasized) To demonstrate to another that they are wrong; to vindicate to someone; to prove something to those who doubt it; to suffice as revenge against someone.
      • She doesn't think I can win, so if I do, that'll show her.
      • I'll prove your innocence to show it to your accusers.
  3. (intransitive) To be or become visible or apparent; to be seen or demonstrated; to appear or be made to appear.
    • That wine stain shows on your shirt. You should wear a jacket to cover it up, so it doesn't show.
    • Your bald patch is starting to show.
    1. (informal, intransitive) To put in an appearance; show up.
      • Nobody even showed at our party.
      • We waited for an hour, but they never showed, so we had to take the bus home.
    2. (intransitive) To finish third in a race, especially in horse or dog racing.
      • In the third race: Aces Up won, paying eight dollars; Blarney Stone placed, paying three dollars; and Cinnamon showed, paying five dollars.
    3. (intransitive) To come into view on a screen; to become visible on a screen.
      • An error message will show on your monitor.
      • A color fluctuation will show on your computer screen.
    4. (informal, intransitive) To have an enlarged belly and thus be recognizable as pregnant.
      • She's not showing yet, so I didn't realize she was pregnant.
      • Jessica: "So, um, do you think Bella's gonna be showing?"
        Angela: "Jess, she's not pregnant."
        Jessica: "Okay. Who else gets married at eighteen?"2011, Bill Condon, director, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
    5. (archaic, copulative, intransitive) To appear (a certain way).
      • He showed tired after a long day's toil.
      • […] until the grey wintry dawn paled them, and the chill earth showed ghostly and desolate in the cold light.1891, Maxwell Grey, In The Heart Of The Storm, volume 1
    6. (intransitive, obsolete) To appear or suit; to reflect well or poorly on someone; to be fitting.
      • My lord of York, it better showed with you.c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […]...

Noun (1)

show (countable and uncountable, plural shows)

  1. (countable) A play, dance, or other entertainment.
    • There were a thousand people at the show.
    • Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
  2. (countable) An exhibition of items.
    • art show; dog show
    • Represented by Olney Gleason gallery, she was the subject of a 2025 solo show at the MSU Broad Art Museum in Michigan and recently unveiled a permanent installation at the Princeton University Art Museum.2026 May, Julie Belcove, “Farm Fresh”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 93
  3. (countable) A broadcast program, especially a light entertainment program.
    • radio show; television show
    • They performed in the show.
    Synonyms:
    program(me)
  4. (countable) A movie.
    • Let's catch a show.
  5. (Australia, New Zealand, countable) An agricultural exhibition.
    • I'm taking the kids to the show on Tuesday.
    • E. C. McEnulty, who won the chop at the show on Thursday, cut through a foot lying block in 34 seconds1924 October 6, The Examiner, Launceston, page 2, column 6
  6. A project or presentation.
    • Let's get on with the show.
    • Let's get this show on the road.
  7. (countable) A demonstration.
    • show of force
  8. (uncountable) Mere display or pomp with no substance. (Usually seen in the phrases “all show” and “for show”.)
    • I envy none their pageantry and show.1725–1728, [Edward Young], “(please specify the page)”, in Love of Fame, the Universal Passion. In Seven Characteristical Satires, 4th edition, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson […], published...
    • The dog sounds ferocious but it's all show.
  9. Outward appearance; wileful or deceptive appearance.
    • So may the outward shows be least themselves:
      The world is still deceived with ornament.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  10. The major leagues.
    • He played AA ball for years, but never made it to the show.
  11. (obsolete) A pale blue flame at the top of a candle flame, indicating the presence of firedamp.
  12. (archaic) Pretence.
Show 6 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (archaic) Sign, token, or indication.
  2. (obsolete) Semblance; likeness; appearance.
    • Beware of the scribes,[…]which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 20:46-47
    • He through the midst unmarked,
      In show plebeian angel militant
      Of lowest order, passed.1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  3. (obsolete) Plausibility.
  4. A discharge, from the vagina, of mucus streaked with blood, occurring a short time before labor.
  5. (slang) A battle; local conflict.
    • A subaltern, wearing a glengarry, came out of a house, playing with the nose of a shell. He walked a little way with me.
      “Going into the show?”1918, Denis Garstin, The Shilling Soldiers, London: Hodder and Stoughton, page 116
  6. A circular impression on sand, indicating the presence of a clam by its siphon.
    • Iron Springs offers a guided clam dig for first timers or those who are rusty at spotting the clam's show at low tide. It includes a license and all the equipment you'll need to catch your limit on Copalis Beach […]2014, Karen Gaudette Brewer, Seafood Lover's Pacific Northwest, page 128

Noun (2)

show (plural shows)

  1. Synonym of shive (“wood fragment of the husk of flax or hemp”).
    • When the flax is ſufficiently watered, it feels ſoft to the grip, and the harle parts eaſily with the boon or ſhow, which laſt is then become brittle, and looks whitiſh.1765, “Directions for raising Flax”, in Museum Rusticum et Commerciale: or, Select Papers on Agriculture, Commerce, Arts, and Manufactures. […], volume IV, London: […] R[obert] Davis, […] J[ohn]...
    • Laſt year (1793) I tranſplanted, from ſeed-beds, into the nurſery, ſeveral fruit-trees; the ground around ſome of which I covered, as above, with flax-ſhows. Notwithſtanding the great heat of the ſummer, none of thoſe trees where the earth was covered with ſhows, died or decayed; becauſe the ſhows...1798, [Christian Friedrich] Germershausen, anonymous translator, “On the Means of promoting the Growth of young Fruit-Trees, particularly in Grass-Land. […] From the Transactions of the Œconomical...
    Synonyms:
    shive

Proper noun capitalized: Show

Show

  1. A surname.

show meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

show in Hindi

to display
दिखाना dikhānā
entertainment
शो śo, तमाशा tamāśā

show in Tamil

to display
காட்டு kāṭṭu, காண்பி kāṇpi
to be visible
தெரி teri
to indicate (a fact) to be true
காட்டு kāṭṭu, காண்பி kāṇpi
to guide or escort
வழிகாட்டு vaḻikāṭṭu

show in Marathi

to display
दाखवणे dākhavṇe

show in Urdu

to display
دکھانا dikhānā
entertainment
شو śo, تَماشا tamāśā, تَماشَہ tamāśa
More languagesFewer languages
show in Bengali
দেখানো dekhanō
show in Telugu
చూపించు cūpiñcu, ప్రదర్శనం pradarśanaṁ
show in Malayalam
കാണിക്കുക kāṇikkuka, നീട്ടുക nīṭṭuka, പത്രാസ് patrāsŭ, തൂകുക tūkuka
show in Kannada
ತೋರಿಸು tōrisu
show in Punjabi
ਤਮਾਸ਼ਾ tamāśā
show in Gujarati
બતાવું batāvũ, દેખાડવું dekhāḍvũ
show in Odia
ଦେଖାଇବା dekhāibā, ଦୃଶ୍ୟ druśya
show in Sanskrit
दिशति diśati
show in Assamese
দেখোৱা dekhüa, দেখুৱা dekhua
show in Nepali
देखाउनु dekhāunu
show in Pashto
څرګندول śargandawë́l
show in Tagalog
magpakita, ipakita, palabas, pagtatanghal
show in Arabic
عَرَضَ ʕaraḍa, قَدَّمَ qaddama, ظَهَرَ ẓahara, أَرَى ʔarā
show in Malay
tunjuk, pertunjukan, persembahan, rancangan
show in Indonesian
tunjuk, pertunjukan, acara, programa
show in Persian
نشان دادن nešân dâdan, نمودن nemudan
show in Thai
แสดง sà-dɛɛng, ชี้แจง chíi-jɛɛng, ละคร lá-kɔɔn, โชว์ choo
show in Vietnamese
chỉ, tỏ ra, cho thấy, biểu diễn
show in Myanmar
ပြသ pra.sa., ပြ pra., ရှိုး hrui:
Kashmiri
ہاوُن hāvun

Examples of show in a sentence

  • The car's dull finish showed years of neglect.
  • All he had to show for four years of attendance at college was a framed piece of paper.
  • I do some sculpturing, but I don't like to show anybody.
  • If you get aggressive, the bouncer will show you to the door.
  • The new Brad Pitt movie is showing at eight o'clock tonight.
  • Nibbles is showing at the California Cat Show.

All 40 example sentences with show

Synonyms of show

15 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of show

Forms of show

Verb
third-person singular presentshows
present participleshowing
pastshowed
past participleshown
past (archaic)shew
past participle US (rare)showed
second-person singular present (archaic)showest
second-person singular past (archaic)showedst
third-person singular present (archaic)showeth
alternative form (archaic)shew
alternative form (obsolete)shewe
alternative form (obsolete)showe
Noun
pluralshows

Past tense of show: showed

Plural of show: shows

Origin of show

From Middle English schewen, from Old English scēawian (“to look, look at, exhibit, display”), from Proto-West Germanic *skauwōn, from Proto-Germanic *skawwōną (“to look, see”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh₁- (“to heed, look, feel, take note of”); see haw, gaum, caveat, caution. Cognate with Scots shaw (“to show”), Dutch schouwen (“to inspect, view”), German schauen (“to see, behold”), Danish skue (“to behold”). Related to sheen. Wider cognates include Ancient Greek κῦδος (kûdos), Latin caveō whence English caution and caveat, Sanskrit कवि (kaví, “seer, prophet, bard”), Proto-Slavic *čuti (whence Russian чу́ять (čújatʹ) and many more).

From Middle English schewe, from the verb (schewen).

Variant of shove, itself a variant of shive.

Words formed from show

Phrases with show

145 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with show

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about show

What does show mean?
Show means to display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something.
What is show in Hindi?
Show in Hindi is दिखाना (dikhānā), शो (śo), तमाशा (tamāśā). See Show meaning in Hindi.
How do you use show in a sentence?
The car's dull finish showed years of neglect.
What part of speech is show?
Show can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce show?
Show is pronounced /ʃəʊ/ (UK).
What is the past tense of show?
The past tense of show is showed.

Words near show in the dictionary

  1. shoving up
  2. shovings
  3. Shovlin
  4. Shovlins
  5. Shovuos
  6. show
  7. show a clean pair of heels
  8. show a leg
  9. show a little ginger
  10. show and share
  11. show and tell

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: show (page history and authors); Show (page history and authors); കാണിക്കുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ଦୃଶ୍ୟ (Odia) (page history and authors); দেখুৱা (Assamese) (page history and authors); देखाउनु (Nepali) (page history and authors); څرګندول (Pashto) (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-show.ogg, En-uk-to show.ogg.

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