show.
To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something.
Meaning & usage
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.
To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something. 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.
To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something. 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.
To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something. To bestow; to confer.
to show mercy; to show favour
(dialectal) show me the salt please
To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something. 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.
To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something. To display artwork in a gallery or museum.
John is showing his work tonight.
The Smithsonian shows most of that artist's work.
To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something. To display on offer.
The store on Eighth Street is showing the new spring collection in the window.
To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something. 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.
To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something. To reveal one's hand of cards.
He just wanted to finish this hand, so he showed as soon as he could.
To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something. 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.
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.
To prove (a fact) to be true; to demonstrate; to instruct. To reveal one's condition or nature.
She showed herself to be a jerk.
That shows what kind of person he is.
To prove (a fact) to be true; to demonstrate; to instruct. 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.
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.
To be or become visible or apparent; to be seen or demonstrated; to appear or be made to appear. 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.
To be or become visible or apparent; to be seen or demonstrated; to appear or be made to appear. 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.
To be or become visible or apparent; to be seen or demonstrated; to appear or be made to appear. 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.
To be or become visible or apparent; to be seen or demonstrated; to appear or be made to appear. To have an enlarged belly and thus be recognizable as pregnant.
She's not showing yet, so I didn't realize she was pregnant.
To be or become visible or apparent; to be seen or demonstrated; to appear or be made to appear. To appear (a certain way).
He showed tired after a long day's toil.
To be or become visible or apparent; to be seen or demonstrated; to appear or be made to appear. To appear or suit; to reflect well or poorly on someone; to be fitting.
Where this word comes from
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).
A play, dance, or other entertainment.
There were a thousand people at the show.
An exhibition of items.
art show; dog show
A broadcast program, especially a light entertainment program.
radio show; television show
They performed in the show.
A movie.
Let's catch a show.
An agricultural exhibition.
I'm taking the kids to the show on Tuesday.
A project or presentation.
Let's get on with the show.
Let's get this show on the road.
A demonstration.
show of force
Mere display or pomp with no substance. (Usually seen in the phrases “all show” and “for show”.)
The dog sounds ferocious but it's all show.
Outward appearance; wileful or deceptive appearance.
The major leagues.
He played AA ball for years, but never made it to the show.
A pale blue flame at the top of a candle flame, indicating the presence of firedamp.
Pretence.
Sign, token, or indication.
Semblance; likeness; appearance.
Plausibility.
A discharge, from the vagina, of mucus streaked with blood, occurring a short time before labor.
A battle; local conflict.
A circular impression on sand, indicating the presence of a clam by its siphon.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English schewe, from the verb (schewen).
Synonym of shive (“wood fragment of the husk of flax or hemp”).
Where this word comes from
Variant of shove, itself a variant of shive.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.