Definition of 'show'
Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense shows
, present participle showing
, past tense showed
, past participle shown
1. verb
If something shows that a state of affairs exists, it gives information that proves it or makes it clear
to people.
He was arrested at his home in Southampton after a breath test showed he had drunk
more than twice the legal limit for driving. [VERB that]
2. verb
If a picture, chart, film, or piece of writing shows something, it represents it or gives information about it.
3. verb
If you show someone something, you give it to them, take them to it, or point to it, so that
they can see it or know what you are referring to.
4. verb
If you show someone to a room or seat, you lead them there.
5. verb
6. verb
If something shows or if you show it, it is visible or noticeable.
7. verb
If you show a particular attitude, quality, or feeling, or if it shows, you behave in a way that makes this attitude, quality, or feeling clear to other people.
Mr Clarke has shown himself to be resolutely opposed to compromise. [VERB pronoun-reflexive to-infinitive]
8. verb
If something shows a quality or characteristic or if that quality or characteristic shows itself, it can be noticed or observed.
9. countable noun [usu a N of n]
A show of a feeling or quality is an attempt by someone to make it clear that they have that
feeling or quality.
10. uncountable noun
If you say that something is for show, you mean that it has no real purpose and is done just to give a good impression.
11. verb
If a company shows a profit or a loss, its accounts indicate that it has made a profit or a loss.
12. verb
If a person you are expecting to meet does not show, they do not arrive at the place where you expect to meet them.
[mainly US]
Show up means the same as show.
14. countable noun
A show in a theatre is an entertainment or concert, especially one that includes different items such as music, dancing, and comedy.
15. verb
If someone shows a film or television programme, it is broadcast or appears on television or in the
cinema.
16. countable noun [oft on NOUN]
A show is a public exhibition of things, such as works of art, fashionable clothes, or things that have been entered in a competition.
17. verb
To show things such as works of art means to put them in an exhibition where they can be
seen by the public.
18. verb [VERB]
In a horse race, if a horse shows, it finishes first, second, or third.
[US]19. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
A show home, house, or flat is one of a group of new homes. The building company decorates
it and puts furniture in it, and people who want to buy one of the homes come and look round it.
20.
See show of hands
21.
22.
See I'll show you
23.
24.
See run the show
25.
Phrasal verbs:
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
show in British English
verbWord forms: shows, showing, showed, shown or showed
4. (transitive)
to exhibit or present (oneself or itself) in a specific character
to show oneself to be trustworthy
8. (intransitive)
to appear
to show to advantage
9.
to exhibit, display, or offer (goods, etc) for sale
three artists were showing at the gallery
11.
to present (a play, film, etc) or (of a play, etc) to be presented, as at a theatre
or cinema
13. See show in
14. See show out
15. (intransitive)
to win a place in a horse race, etc
noun
18.
a display or exhibition
19.
a public spectacle
20.
an ostentatious or pretentious display
21.
a theatrical or other entertainment
22.
a trace or indication
24. US, Australian and New Zealand informal
25.
a sporting event consisting of contests in which riders perform different exercises to show their skill and their horses' ability and breeding
26. slang, mainly British
a thing or affair (esp in the phrases good show, bad show, etc)
28.
a display of farm animals, with associated competitions
29. See for show
30. See run the show
31. See steal the show
32. See stop the show
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
Old English scēawian; related to Old High German scouwōn to look, Old Norse örskār careful, Greek thuoskoos seer
Word Frequency
show in American English
verb transitiveWord forms: showed, shown or showed, ˈshowing
1.
to bring or put in sight or view; cause or allow to appear or be seen; make visible; exhibit; display
2.
a.
to enter (animals, flowers, etc.) in a competitive show
3.
to guide; conduct
to show a guest to a room
4.
to direct to another's attention; point out
to show the sights to visitors
5.
6.
to exhibit or manifest (oneself or itself) in a given character, condition, etc.
to show oneself to be reliable
7.
10.
to register; indicate
a clock shows the time
verb intransitive
13.
to be or become seen or visible; appear
14.
15.
to have a given appearance; appear
to show to good effect
17. Informal
to come or arrive as expected; make an appearance
18. Theatre
to give a performance; appear
noun
20.
a display or appearance, specif. a colorful or striking one
21.
22.
an indication of the presence of metal, coal, oil, etc. in the earth; trace
24.
25.
a public display or exhibition, as of art, animals, flowers, automobiles, etc.
26.
a presentation of entertainment, as a theatrical production, TV program, film, etc.
27. US
third position at the finish of a horse race or dog race
adjective
29.
a medley of show tunes
Idioms:
SYNONYMY NOTE: show implies a putting or bringing something into view so that it can be seen or looked
at [show us the garden]; to display something is to spread it out so that it is shown to advantage [jewelry displayed on a sales counter]; exhibit implies prominent display, often for the purpose of attracting public attention or
inspection [to exhibit products at a fair]; expose implies the laying open and displaying of something that has been covered or concealed
[this bathing suit exposes the scar]; flaunt implies an ostentatious, impudent, or defiant display [to flaunt one's riches, vices, etc.]Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME schewen < OE sceawian, akin to Ger schauen, to look at < IE base *(s)keu-, to notice, heed > L cavere, to beware, OE hieran, to hearWord Frequency
show in American English
(ʃou) (verb showed, shown or showed, showing)
transitive verb
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
5.
to explain or make clear; make known
He showed what he meant
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
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
intransitive verb
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.
19. See show off
20. See show up
noun
SYNONYMS 4. lead, conduct. 5. interpret, clarify, elucidate; reveal, disclose, divulge. 10. assert, affirm. 13. bestow, confer. 25. spectacle. 26, 27. show, display, ostentation, pomp suggest the presentation of a more or less elaborate, often pretentious, appearance
for the public to see. show often indicates an external appearance that may or may not accord with actual facts:
a show of modesty. display applies to an intentionally conspicuous show: a great display of wealth. ostentation is vain, ambitious, pretentious, or offensive display: tasteless and vulgar ostentation. pomp suggests such a show of dignity and authority as characterizes a ceremony of state:
The coronation was carried out with pomp and ceremonial. 32. deception, pretense, simulation, illusion.21.
a theatrical production, performance, or company
22.
a radio or television program
23.
a motion picture
24.
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
25.
any kind of public exhibition or exposition
a show of Renoirs
26.
ostentatious display
nothing but mere show
27.
a display, exhibition, or demonstration
a true show of freedom
28.
an indication; trace
He frowned on the slightest show of emotion
29.
the position of the competitor who comes in third in a horse race, harness race, etc.
Compare place (sense 27b), win1 (sense 17)30.
appearance; impression
to make a sorry show
31.
a sight or spectacle
33.
an act or instance of showing
34.
a motion-picture theater
35. informal
a chance
to get a fair show
37. chiefly Brit informal
any undertaking, group of persons, event, etc.; affair; thing
38. See make a show of
39. See run the show
40. See steal the show
41. See stop the show
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
showable adjective
showless
adjective
Word origin
[bef. 900; (v.) ME showen, s(c)hewen to look at, show, OE scēawian to look at; c. D schowen, G schauen; (n.) ME s(c)hew(e), deriv. of the v.]Examples of 'show' in a sentence
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In other languages
show
British English: show
/ʃəʊ/ NOUN
A show of a feeling is an attempt by someone to make it clear that they have that feeling.
Workers gathered in the city centre in a show of support for the government.
- American English: show /ˈʃoʊ/
- Arabic: مَعْرِض
- Brazilian Portuguese: demonstração
- Chinese: 表示
- Croatian: iskaz
- Czech: projev citů apod.
- Danish: demonstrering
- Dutch: vertoon
- European Spanish: espectáculo
- Finnish: näytös
- French: spectacle
- German: Vorstellung Theater
- Greek: έκφραση
- Italian: manifestazione
- Japanese: ショー
- Korean: 표시
- Norwegian: forestilling
- Polish: widowisko
- European Portuguese: demonstração
- Romanian: demonstrație
- Russian: показ
- Latin American Spanish: espectáculo
- Swedish: show
- Thai: การแสดงออก
- Turkish: gösteri eğlence
- Ukrainian: показ
- Vietnamese: buổi biểu diễn
British English: show
/ʃəʊ/ VERB
prove If information or a fact shows that a situation exists, it proves it.
Research shows that women do upwards of 70% of housework.
- American English: show /ˈʃoʊ/
- Arabic: يَعْرِض
- Brazilian Portuguese: mostrar
- Chinese: 展示
- Croatian: pokazati
- Czech: ukázat
- Danish: vise
- Dutch: tonen
- European Spanish: mostrar
- Finnish: näyttää
- French: montrer
- German: zeigen
- Greek: δείχνω
- Italian: dimostrare
- Japanese: 見せる
- Korean: 보여주다
- Norwegian: (frem)vise
- Polish: pokazać
- European Portuguese: mostrar
- Romanian: a demonstra
- Russian: показывать
- Latin American Spanish: mostrar
- Swedish: visa
- Thai: แสดง
- Turkish: göstermek
- Ukrainian: показувати
- Vietnamese: cho thấy
British English: show
/ʃəʊ/ VERB
let see If you show someone something, you let them see it.
She showed me her ring.
- American English: show /ˈʃoʊ/
- Arabic: يَعْرُضُ
- Brazilian Portuguese: mostrar
- Chinese: 给…看
- Croatian: pokazati
- Czech: ukázat
- Danish: vise
- Dutch: tonen
- European Spanish: enseñar
- Finnish: näyttää
- French: montrer
- German: zeigen
- Greek: δείχνω
- Italian: mostrare
- Japanese: ・・・を見せる
- Korean: 보여주다
- Norwegian: vise
- Polish: pokazać
- European Portuguese: mostrar
- Romanian: a arăta
- Russian: показатьчто-нибудь
- Latin American Spanish: mostrar
- Swedish: visa
- Thai: แสดงให้เห็น, อวด
- Turkish: göstermek
- Ukrainian: показувати
- Vietnamese: cho thấy
British English: show
/ʃəʊ/ VERB
teach If you show someone how to do something, you teach them how to do it.
She showed us how to make pasta.
- American English: show /ˈʃoʊ/
- Arabic: يَعْرُضُ
- Brazilian Portuguese: ensinar
- Chinese: 演示
- Croatian: naučiti
- Czech: předvéstnaučit
- Danish: vise
- Dutch: demonstreren
- European Spanish: enseñar
- Finnish: näyttää
- French: montrer à
- German: zeigen
- Greek: δείχνω
- Italian: mostrare
- Japanese: ・・・の方法を教える
- Korean: 가르쳐주다
- Norwegian: vise
- Polish: pokazać
- European Portuguese: demonstrar
- Romanian: a explica
- Russian: показатькак
- Latin American Spanish: demostrar
- Swedish: visa
- Thai: สาธิต
- Turkish: göstermek
- Ukrainian: показувати
- Vietnamese: chỉ dạy
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Definition of show from the Collins English Dictionary
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