show

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: OE. schowen, shewen, schewen, shawen, AS. sceáwian, to look, see, view; akin to OS. scaw…n, OFries. skawia, D. schouwen, OHG. scouw…n, G. schauen, Dan. skue, Sw. sk…da, Icel. sko…a, Goth. usskawjan to waken, skuggwa a mirror, Icel. skuggy shade, shadow, L. cavere to be on one's guard, Gr. … to mark, perceive, hear, Skr. kavi wise. Cf. Caution, Scavenger, Sheen.

1. To exhibit or present to view; to place in sight; to display; — the thing exhibited being the object, and often with an indirect object denoting the person or thing seeing or beholding; as, to show a house; show your colors; shopkeepers show customers goods (show goods to customers).

Go thy way, shew thyself to the priest.— Matt. viii. 4.

Nor want we skill or art from whence to raise Magnificence; and what can heaven show more?— John Milton

2. To exhibit to the mental view; to tell; to disclose; to reveal; to make known; as, to show one's designs.

Shew them the way wherein they must walk.— Ex. xviii. 20.

If it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, and send thee away.— 1 Sam. xx. 13.

3. Specifically, to make known the way to (a person); hence, to direct; to guide; to usher; to conduct; as, to show a person into a parlor; to show one to the door.

4. To make apparent or clear, as by evidence, testimony, or reasoning; to prove; to explain; also, to manifest; to evince; as, to show the truth of a statement; to show the causes of an event.

I 'll show my duty by my timely care.— John Dryden

5. To bestow; to confer; to afford; as, to show favor.

Shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me.— Ex. xx. 6.

To show forth, to manifest; to publish; to proclaim. — To show his paces, to exhibit the gait, speed, or the like; — said especially of a horse. — To show off, to exhibit ostentatiously. — To show up, to expose. colloquial

Origin: Written also shew.

1. To exhibit or manifest one's self or itself; to appear; to look; to be in appearance; to seem.

Just such she shows before a rising storm.— John Dryden

All round a hedge upshoots, and shows At distance like a little wood.— Alfred Tennyson

2. To have a certain appearance, as well or ill, fit or unfit; to become or suit; to appear.

My lord of York, it better showed with you.— William Shakespeare

To show off, to make a show; to display one's self.

Origin: Formerly written also shew.

1. The act of showing, or bringing to view; exposure to sight; exhibition.

2. That which is shown, or brought to view; that which is arranged to be seen; a spectacle; an exhibition; as, a traveling show; a cattle show.

As for triumphs, masks, feasts, and such shows.— Francis, Baron Verulam Bacon

3. Proud or ostentatious display; parade; pomp.

I envy none their pageantry and show.— Edward Young

4. Semblance; likeness; appearance.

He through the midst unmarked, In show plebeian angel militant Of lowest order, passed.— John Milton

5. False semblance; deceitful appearance; pretense.

Beware of the scribes,... which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers.— Luke xx. 46. 47.

6. Medicine A discharge, from the vagina, of mucus streaked with blood, occurring a short time before labor.

7. Mining A pale blue flame, at the top of a candle flame, indicating the presence of fire damp. Raymond, Rossiter Worthington

Show bill, a broad sheet containing an advertisement in large letters. — Show box, a box containing some object of curiosity carried round as a show. — Show card, an advertising placard; also, a card for displaying samples. — Show case, a glazed case, box, or cabinet for displaying and protecting shopkeepers' wares, articles on exhibition in museums, etc. — Show glass, a glass which displays objects; a mirror. — Show of hands, a raising of hands to indicate judgment; as, the vote was taken by a show of hands. — Show stone, a piece of glass or crystal supposed to have the property of exhibiting images of persons or things not present, indicating in that way future events.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54