View synonyms for showdown

showdown

[ shoh-doun ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the laying down of one's cards, face upward, in a card game, especially poker.
a conclusive settlement of an issue, difference, etc., in which all resources, power, or the like, are used; decisive confrontation:
An international showdown was inevitable.
Synonyms: clash, encounter, climax, crisis

showdown

/ ˈʃəʊˌdaʊn /

informal.
an action that brings matters to a head or acts as a conclusion or point of decision
poker the exposing of the cards in the players' hands on the table at the end of the game

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; show + down ¹

Gordon G. Chang is a Forbes.com columnist and the author of Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World.

Regardless of how the showdown ends, it does serve a very clear signal of what the political climate will be in the next Congress.

Instead, it would set the stage for a massive showdown in February, when Republicans would control both the House and the Senate.

The ambiguity revolving around the event made it a poor candidate for a final showdown.

With Donetsk now encircled, the stage is set for a final and potentially very bloody urban showdown.

For the trade was not unduly worried as to the outcome in the event of a showdown.

One day they waited for him and brought matters to a showdown.

Then he'd have a two-gun showdown with those men like Sawtell and Lombard and the worthless cousins.

Maybe there was a showdown—and the wind-up of it is that Nick comes home meek as a six-year-old broke down in front.

But suppose this was a showdown between Lumbrilo and Asaki—whose side would these men take?

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