show transitive verb [imperfect Showed; past participle Shown or Showed; present participle or verbal noun Showing. It is sometimes written shew, shewed, shewn, shewing.] [OE. schowen, shewen, schewen, shawen, AS. sceáwian, to look, see, view; akin to OS. scawn, OFries. skawia, D. schouwen, OHG. scouwn, G. schauen, Dan. skue, Sw. skda, Icel. skoa, 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? 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 asher; 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. 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. [Colloq.]

Show intransitive verb [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. Dryden.
All round a hedge upshoots, and shows
At distance like a little wood. 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. Shak.

To show off

to make a show; to display one's self.

Show noun [Formerly written also shew.]

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

2. That which os 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. Bacon.

3. Proud or ostentatious display; parade; pomp.

I envy none their pageantry and show. Young.

4. Semblance; likeness; appearance.

He through the midst unmarked,
In show plebeian angel militant
Of lowest order, passed. 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. (Med.) A discharge, from the vagina, of mucus streaked with blood, occuring 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.

Show bill

a broad sheet containing an advertisement in large letters.

Show box

a box xontaining some object of curiosity carried round as a show.

Show card

an advertising placard; also, a card for displaying samples.

Show case

a glaed 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 unabridged 1913