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run the show

 - 6 dictionary results

show

  [shoh] verb, showed, shown or showed, show⋅ing, noun
Use run the show in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
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.
4. to guide, escort, or usher: He showed me to my room. Show her in.
5. to explain or make clear; make known: He showed what he meant.
6. to make known to; inform, instruct, or prove to: I'll show you what I mean.
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.
11. to produce, as facts in an affidavit or at a hearing.
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.
–verb (used without object)
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.
–noun
19. a theatrical production, performance, or company.
20. a radio or television program.
21. a motion picture.
22. 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.
23. any kind of public exhibition or exposition: a show of Renoirs.
24. ostentatious display: nothing but mere show.
25. a display, exhibition, or demonstration: a true show of freedom.
26. an indication; trace: He frowned on the slightest show of emotion.
27. the position of the competitor who comes in third in a horse race, harness race, etc. Compare place (def. 27b), win 1 (def. 16).
28. appearance; impression: to make a sorry show.
29. a sight or spectacle.
30. an unreal or deceptive appearance: The actress's tears had the show of grief.
31. an act or instance of showing.
32. a motion-picture theater.
33. Informal. a chance: to get a fair show.
34. Medicine/Medical.
a. the first appearance of blood at the onset of menstruation.
b. a blood-tinged mucous discharge from the vagina that indicates the onset of labor.
35. Chiefly British Informal. any undertaking, group of persons, event, etc.; affair; thing.
—Verb phrases
36. show off,
a. to display ostentatiously: The parade was designed to show off all the latest weapons of war.
b. to seek to gain attention by displaying prominently one's abilities or accomplishments.
37. show up,
a. to make known, as faults; expose; reveal.
b. to exhibit in a certain way; appear: White shows up well against a blue background.
c. to come to or arrive at a place: We waited for two hours, but he didn't show up.
d. to make (another) seem inferior; outdo.
—Idioms
38. make a show of, to be ostentatious about; affect: Whenever there are visitors, the bosses make a show of being nice to their employees.
39. run the show, to control a business, situation, etc.; be in charge: My father runs the show in our house.
40. steal the show,
a. to usurp the credit or get the applause for something: That woman can act, but the child stole the show. He did all the work, but his partner stole the show.
b. to be the most pleasing or spectacular item or person in a group.
41. stop the show, to win such enthusiastic applause that a theatrical performance is temporarily interrupted.
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.

Related forms:
show⋅a⋅ble, adjective
showless, adjective

Synonyms:
4. lead, conduct. 5. interpret, clarify, elucidate; reveal, disclose, divulge. 10. assert, affirm. 13. bestow, confer. 23. spectacle. 24, 25. 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. 30. deception, pretense, simulation, illusion.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

show  (n.)
c.1300, "act of exhibiting to view," from show (v.). Sense of "appearance put on with intention to deceive" is recorded from c.1526. Meaning "display, spectacle" is first recorded 1561; that of "ostentatious display" is from 1713 (showy is from 1712). Sense of "entertainment program on radio or TV" is first recorded 1932. Meaning "third place in a horse race" is from 1925, Amer.Eng. Show of hands is attested from 1789; Phrase for show "for appearance's sake" is from c.1700. Show business is attested from 1850; shortened form show biz first attested 1945. Expression the show must go on is first attested 1941. Show-stopper is from 1926; show trial first recorded 1937.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: show
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: showed; shown or showed; show·ing
: to demonstrate or establish by argument, reasoning, or evidence show a compelling need for the court action>—show cause : to establish by reasoning and evidence a valid reason for something show cause —J. H. Williamson> show cause why the petition may not be granted>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: show
Pronunciation: 'shO
Function: noun
1 : a discharge of mucus streaked with blood from the vagina at the onset of labor
2 : the first appearance of blood in a menstrual period
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

show (shō)
n.

  1. The first discharge of blood in menstruation.

  2. The discharge of bloody mucus from the vagina indicating the start of labor.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

run the show

Take charge, assume control, as in Ever since Bill retired from the business, his daughter's been running the show. The word show here simply means "kind of undertaking." [First half of 1900s] A similar usage is run one's own show, meaning "exert control over one's own activities" or "act independently." For example, The high school drama club didn't ask permission to perform that playthey want to run their own show. [Mid-1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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