Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh₁-der. Proto-Germanic *skawwōną Proto-West Germanic *skauwōn Old English scēawian Middle English schewen English 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).
To display or exhibit; to have somebody see (something); to direct attention to something.
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.
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I do some sculpturing, but I don't like to show anybody.
The king showed great wisdom in his decisions.
The actor showed Macbeth's confidence in this scene.
Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
2
To indicate.
The record shows that you have been late twelve times this year.
This thermometer will show the temperature in the room.
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The schedule is showing appointments all day.
3
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.
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If you get aggressive, the bouncer will show you to the door.
4
To bestow; to confer.
to show mercy; to show favour
(dialectal) show me the salt please
5
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 an awful movie on the flight.
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The new Brad Pitt movie is showing at eight o'clock tonight.
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To display artwork in a gallery or museum.
The Smithsonian shows most of that artist's work.
John is showing his work tonight.
7
To display on offer.
The store on Eighth Street is showing the new spring collection in the window.
8
Card games, Games To give hints to the apparent or purported nature of 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:
10
To participate in a dog show, cat show, etc.
She's showing her poodle at the dog show.
That's why we don't show in Philadelphia anymore.
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Nibbles is showing at the California Cat Show.
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To indicate (a fact) to be true; to demonstrate; to instruct.
We showed that the hypothesis is correct.
She is showing how to complete the task.
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He doesn't just tell you how to do it, he shows you.
He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record. With this biological framework in place, Corning endeavors to show that the capitalist system as currently practiced in the United States and elsewhere is manifestly unfair.2012 March-April, John T. Jost, “Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 162:
2018, VOA Learning English > China's Melting Glacier Brings Visitors, Adds to Climate Concerns A report this year in the Journal of Geophysical Research showed that the glacier has lost 60 percent of its mass.
12
To reveal one's condition or nature.
She showed herself to be a jerk.
That shows what kind of person he is.
13
To demonstrate to another that they are wrong; to vindicate to someone; to prove something to someone who doubts it; to suffice as revenge against someone.
Usually emphasized
She doesn't think I can win, so if I do, that'll show her.
If he attacked you, I'll kick his ass. Getting beat up will show him.
14
To be or become visible; to be seen; to appear.
Your bald patch is starting to show.
His experience showed, because he knew exactly what to do when the emergency happened.
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Her hatred showed on her face.
Staining wood will make minor scratches show on the surface.
That wine stain shows on your shirt. You should wear a jacket to cover it up, so it doesn't show.
Just such she shows before a rising storm.1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
We waited for an hour, but they never showed, so we had to take the bus home.
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Hobbies, Lifestyle, Motor racing, Racing, Sports To finish third, 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.
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To come into view on a screen.
A checkbox will show on your monitor.
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Informal To have an enlarged belly and thus be recognizable as 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:
"My friend is due 2 weeks after me and she has this cute bump. I’m barely showing! Could something be wrong?2012, Carley Roney, The Baby Bump: 100s of Secrets to Surviving Those 9 Long Months, Chronicle Books, page 60:
[…] 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:
The exposed dura showed healthy and was left undisturbed.1905, R. Johnson Held, S. J. Kopetzky, “Report of a Case of Purulent Meningitis Following Radical Mastoid Operation—Recovery after Operative Interference”, in Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital Reports, number 6:
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He blinked with his eyes, and the damp dripped from his face, which showed haggard and drawn; but Appleby, who wondered if his own wore that look, surmised that this was not due to cowardice, and understood why the man breathed in gasps.1907, Harold Blindloss, The Dust of Conflict:
20
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: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
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
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 23, Julie Belcove, “Farm Fresh”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 93:
3
A broadcast program, especially a light entertainment program.
radio show; television show
They performed in the show.
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I spotted my neighbour on the morning TV show.
Every day I do my morning show.2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
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.
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They went on an international road show to sell the shares to investors.
It was Apple's usual dog and pony show.
7
A demonstration.
show of force
8
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 1741, →OCLC:
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] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
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 as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
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:
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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:
Etymology Variant of shove, itself a variant of shive.
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] Newbery, […] and L[ockyer] Davis and C[harles] Reymers, […], page 459:
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 prevented the earth under them from being dried by the ſun.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 Society of Leipsic.”, in The Repertory of Arts and Manufactures: […], volume VIII, London: […] [F]or the proprietors; and sold by H[enry] Lowndes, […], page 63:
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Old houses in the north-east sometimes have a thick layer of flax waste or “shows” under the thatch.1942 March, E[myr] Estyn Evans, Irish Heritage: The Landscape, the People and Their Work, Dundalk, County Louth: W[illiam] Tempest, Dundalgan Press, page 64: