show 
hear. From the root ofgJiou 1 are nlt.'E.aeuvage 1 , 
scavaycr, seal-eager, etc., sheen 1 , etc., xkuy, etc. 
The pp. shown (like mnrn, w , etc.) is modern, 
conformed to the analogy of aoini, hloini, etc.] 
1. frail*. 1. To let be seen; manifest to the 
sight ; disclose ; discover. 
Than be-gan the tlay for to clere, and the sonne to shewe 
out his bemea and dryed theire hartleys. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 44:1 
All the more it seeks to hide itself, 
The bigger bulk it shows. 
Shak., Tempest, iii. 1. SI. 
The sportive wind blows wide 
Their flutt'riiig rags, and shows a tawny skin. 
Cowper, Task, L 568. 
2. To exhibit or present to the view ; place in 
sight; display. 
The men, which wonder at their wounds, 
And shelve their scarrea to euery commer by. 
Oascuiijne, Steels Glas, etc. (ed. Arber), p. 65. 
Go thy way, >uu- thyself to the priest. Hat. viii. 4. 
I was shown in it a sketch of bombs and mortars as they 
are now used. 
Addition, Remarks on Italy (Works, ed. Bonn, I. 371). 
3. To communicate ; reveal ; make known ; dis- 
close. 
They knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. 
1 Sam. xxii. 17. 
0, let me live ! 
And all the secrets of our camp I'll shout. 
Shale., All's Well, iv. 1. 93. 
Know. I am sent 
To show thee what shall come in future days. 
Milton, P. L., id. 357. 
4. To prove ; manifest; make apparent or clear 
by evidence, reasoning, etc. ; demonstrate ; ex- 
plain. 
Whan thei herden what he was, the! seiden as gladde 
peple that he shewed well fro whens he was comen. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 462. 
This continual! course and manner of writing or speech 
sheweth the matter and disposition of the writers minde 
more than one or few wordes or sentences can shew. 
Puttenhain, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 123. 
He draws upon life's map a zigzag line. 
That shows now far 'tis safe to follow sin. 
Cowper, Hope, I. 608. 
Show your good breeding, at least, though you have for- 
got your duty. Sheridan, The Rivals, iv. -2. 
5. To inform; teach; instruct. 
One of the black ones went with me to carry a quarter 
of beef, and I went ... to show her how to corn it. 
W. M. Baker, New Timothy, p. 223. 
6. To mark; indicate; point out. 
"We secha the kynge Arthur." ... At this worde an- 
suerde Nascien, ..." My feire sones, lo, hym yonde," 
. . . and sheu'de hym with his fynger. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 371. 
An altar of black stone, of old wrought well, 
Alone beneath a ruined roof now showed 
The goal whereto the folk were wont to crowd. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 326. 
7. To point out the way to; guide or usher; 
conduct. 
Come, good sir, will you show me to this house? 
Shak., XI. of V., iv. 2. 20. 
0, gentlemen, I beg pardon for not showiny you out ; 
this way. Sheridan, School for Scandal, iv. 2. 
8. To bestow ; confer ; afford : as, to show favor 
or mercy. 
And eke, o lady myn, Facecia! 
My penne thow guyde, and helpe vnto me shewe. 
Jlabees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 2. 
Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul 
bound. Acts xxiv. 27. 
The Commons of England . . . treated their living cap- 
tain with that discriminating justice which is seldom 
ehown except to the dead. Macaulay, Lord Clive. 
9. To explain ; make clear; interpret; expound. 
What this montaigne bymeneth and the merke dale 
And the felde ful of folke, I shal sow faire scheme. 
Piers Plowman (B), i. 2. 
Interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences 
and dissolving of doubts. Dan. v. 12. 
10. Figuratively, to exercise or use upon, 
usually in a slight and superficial way; barely 
touch with. [Colloq. and humorous.] 
As for hair, tho' it 's red. it 's the most nicest hair when 
I've time to just show it the comb. 
Uood, The Lost Heir. 
To m sllo ,_ w a Ieg - See l "J- T. To snow cause. See came. 
TO snow fight, to manifest a disposition or readiness 
to resist. To show forth, to manifest; publish; pro- 
claim. 
O Lord, open thou my lips ; and my mouth shall shew 
forth thy praise. p s . \\_ ls . 
To show off, to set off : exhibit in an ostentatious man- 
ner : as, to show off one's accomplishments. To show 
one's colors. See color. To show one's hand See 
hand. To show one the door, tu dismiss one from the 
room or house. To Show the cloven hoof. See cloven. 
-To show the cold shoulder. See cold. To show 
the elephant. See depha lit. - To show the heels, show 
a clean pair of heels, see heeli. TO show the white 
5595 
feather. See white feather, under feather. To show 
up, to expose ; hold up to animadversion, ridicule, or con- 
tempt : as, to show vp an impostor. 
How far he was justified in shimmy up his friend Mack- 
lin may admit of question. 
Jon Bee, Essay on Samuel Foote, p. Ixxix. 
It would be unprofitable to spend more time in disen- 
tangling, or rather in showing up the knots in, the ravelled 
skeins of our neighbours. 
up 
Hu 
xley, Lay Sermons, p. 30. 
shower 
They seein'd a while tobestirr them with HS/IOT of dili- 
gence in thir new affairs. Hilton, Hist. Eng., iii. 
6. The first sanguinoleiit discharge in labor; 
also, the first indication of the menses. [Col- 
loq.] 7. A sign; indication; prospect; prom- 
ise : as, a show of petroleum ; a xhoir of gold. 
[U. S. and Australia.] 
The depth to which a well is drilled is generally regu- 
II. intrans. 1. To be seen; appear; become lated by the depth of the producing wells in the immedi- 
visible or manifest ; come into sight, or, figura- ?' e v !?'. n '7/ and sometimes by the shmv, as it is called, of 
i_. i_ . . 6 ' ' b the oil in the well. Con* and Johns. Petrolia. n. 144. 
tively, into knowledge. 
The Almykanteras in her astrolabies ben streyhte as a 
line so as shewyth in this figure. 
Chaucer, Astrolabe, it 26. 
The fire i' the flint 
Shows not till it be struck. 
Shak., T. of A., i. 1. 23. 
The painter, whose pictures show best at a distance, but 
very near, more unpleasing. 
the oil in the well. Com and Johns, Petrolia, p. 144. 
8. Chance; opportunity. [Colloq., U. S.] 
Tom may be innocent ; and he ought to have a fair show, 
anyhow. E. Eygleston, The Graysons, xi. 
[Used attributively to indicate display or effect : as, this 
is a show day at the club ; B was the show figure of the 
party. ] A show of hands, a raising of hands, as a means 
of indicating the sentiments of a meeting upon some prop- 
osition. Dumb Show. See dumb-show. Show Sun- 
Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress i day, the Sunday before Commemoration at Oxford Uni- 
A faint green light began to show vers.ty.-To make a show, to show off ; make a display. 
Far in the east. Hee seemes not sincerely religious, especially on sol- 
emne daies : for he comes oft to Church to make a shew. 
Bp. Earle, Micro-cosmographie, An Alderman. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 233. 
Cuckoo, calling from the hill, 
Swallow, skimming by the mill, 
.Mark the seasons, map our year, 
As they show and disappear. 
=Syn. 1 and 2. Sight, representation. 3. Display, Parade, 
etc. (see ostentation), flourish, dash, pageantry, splendor, 
ceremony. 5. Color, mask. 
M. Arnold, Poor Matthias, show 2 , i'. A dialectal variant of shove. 
2. To make one's (or its) appearance ; be visi- show 3 (sho), n. [Also shew ; prob. a reduced 
1">]<1 * l-o i-i*tisjan*- rXT^iir f*f\\1r\*-, ~\ iVtVTrt rf -fl/*n/Y/'l sh/tftfl lit * aoT\ai*at -i 5r*v ' aitnlinfl 
ble ; be present. 
form of shode 1 , shood, lit. 'separation,' applied 
-, -., [Now colloq.] , -- f -- -c*- 
Sche lyethe in an olde Castelle, in a Cave, and scliewcthe to various uses: see shade 1 , shode"*, shood.] 
twyes or thryes in the Zeer. Mandeville, Travels, p. 23. Refuse : used in the plural. 
The ladies, . . . finding the rapid gallops and easy leaps 
of the "light lands " greatly to their taste, always showed 
in good numbers. J. C. Jeafreson, Live it Down, xi. 
To show off, to make a show ; make a conscious and more 
or less obvious display of one's accomplishments or ad- 
vantages ; display one's self. See also showing-off. 
Young gentlemen . . . show off to advantage beside the 
befustianed, rustic, and inebriate portion of the crowd. 
Grenmlle Murray, Round about France, p. 226. 
To show up, to appear ; put in an appearance ; attend 
or be present. [Colloq. ] 
He ... recommends that the ground immediately un- 
der the stem of the oak. birch, and other trees which de- 
mand most attention shall be covered with a substance 
called shews, being the refuse of a flax-mill, which of 
course serves to exclude the drought, like the process 
which gardeners call mulching. 
Scott, Prose Works, XXI. 142. 
Coal used to be quarried in Scholes. ... It must . . . 
have been worked at a very early period, and the heaps 
of shows (refuse and cinders . . .) would naturally give a 
name to the place. 
Quoted in A", and Q., 7th ser., IX. 255. 
show 1 (sho), n. [Also archaically shew; <ME. 
schewe, < AS. sceciice, a show, = D. schouw (in Show-bill (sho bil), . A placard or other ad- 
schouw-spel, a spectacle, show) = MLG. schouwe vertisement, usually printed, containing an au- 
= G. schau = Dan. skue, a show, view ; from the n puncement of goods for sale ;. also, such a 
verb.] 1. The act of showing or exhibiting to P laca rd announcing a show, 
the view; exposure or exhibition to view or no- ShOW-bOX (sho boks), n. , 
A box containing 
some object or objects of curiosity exhibited 
as a show, as the box for a Punch and Judy 
show. 
Mankind are his show-box a friend, would you know 
him? 
Pull the string, ruling passion the picture will show him. 
Burns, Fragment Inscribed to Fox. 
tice; manifestation; demonstration. 
But I have that within which passeth show ; 
These but the trappings and the suits of woe. 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 2. 86. 
Nor doth this grandeur and majestick show 
Of luxury, though call'd magnificence, 
. . . allure mine eye. Milton, P. E., iv. 110. 
Not long alter the Admiral's Death the Protector was Showbread, shswbre.ld (sho'bred), . [= G. 
invaded with several Accusations ; wherein the Earl of schaubrod = Sw. skddebrM = Dan. skuebrod 
%%!&^$S**'i!s&? -"r 1 + *rf ] Am r g ^ heancie s t ^ : 
the bread which was placed every Sabbath 
?;._ A ? pe , a , rance ' whether tr ue or false; sem- before Jehovah on the table of shittira-wood 
overlaid with gold, set in the holy place, on 
the north side of the altar of incense, it con- 
sisted of twelve loaves, to represent the twelve tribes of 
Israel, and was made of fine flour, sprinkled with in- 
cense. It was accounted holy, remained on the golden 
table during an entire week, and was eaten in the sanc- 
tuary by the priests alone. 
Have ye not read . . . how he entered into the house 
of God, and did eat the shewbread. which was not lawful 
for him to eat, . . . but only for the priests? Mat. xii. 4. 
His intellectual eye pierces instantly beneath the shows show-Card (sho'kard), n. A tradesman's card 
of things to the things themselves, and seems almost to r> m itaininir an annniiTipnment- oU-r, ,>J| 
behold truth in clear vision. Whipple, Ess. and Rev , 1. 22 2rf announcement, also, a card on 
which patterns are exhibited in a shop. 
show-case (sho'kas), n. A case or inclosure of 
which all or some of the sides are of glass, in- 
tended to keep small and delicate or valuable 
SSr#3ES$: ?t**tB from dust and injury, while leaving 
them in plain sight, whether in a museum or in 
.. a place of sale. 
Addison, Remarks on Italy (Works, ed. Bohn, I. 362). show-end (sho'end), n. That end of a piece of 
4. A sight or spectacle; an exhibition ; a pa- stuff ' as woolen cloth, which forms the outside 
geant ; a play : as, the Lord Mayor's show of * roll > and is unrolled to be shown to cus- 
speeifically, that which is shown for money: as tomers - is often ornamented and lettered 
a traveling show; a flower-s/iow; a cattle-sfcou; Wlth sllk or other thl- ead woven into the piece. 
Some delightful ostentation, or show, or pageant, or an- showed (shou'er), n. [Early mod. E. also 
tique, or firework. Shak., L. L. L., v! 1. 118. showre ; < Mt,. snow, slioure, schour, schowre, 
Was my Lo. Major's shew, with a nnmberof sumptuous SCnUr i < AS. scur, a storm, shower (heegles sew, 
pageants, speeches, and verses. hagal-scur, a hail-shower, rejjna scur, ren-scftr, a 
Evelyn, Diary, Oct. 29, 1662. rain-shower, wolcna sew, 'c'loud-shower,'/aim 
Here raree shows are seen, and Punche's Feats, scur, a shower of arrows, scw-boqa shower- 
And Pocket's pick'd in Crouds and various Cheats bow, rainbow), also poet, conflict, battle, =OS. 
The shrill call, across the general din, ""' sk&r ' a conflict, battle, = OFries. schur, a fit, 
" Roll up your curtain ! Let the show begin !" paroxysm, = D. schoer = MLG. schur = LG. 
Whittier, The Panorama, schure, schuur = OHG. scur, MHG. schur, G. 
5. A feint; a deceptive or plausible appear- schemer, a shower, storm, fit, paroxysm, = Icel. 
ance ; a pretense of something, designed to skur = Sw. skur = Goth, skura, a storm (skura 
mislead; pretext. windis, a storm of wind) ; perhaps orig. 'a thick 
In shew to keepe the straits, in deed to expect the euent. llark cloud, rain-cloud ' ; cf . L. obscurus, and see 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 386. ***] 1. A light, or moderately heavy, fall of 
Beware of the scribes, . . . which devour widows' ra '"> na ilj or sleet; used absolutely, a fall of 
houses, and for a shew make long prayers. Luke xx. 47. rain. 
blance; likeness. 
Long she thus travelled, . . . 
Yet never shew of living wight espyde. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. ill. 10. 
Of their Fruits, Ananas is reckoned one of the best, in 
taste like an Apricocke, in shew a farre off like an Arti- 
choke, but without prickles, very sweete of sent. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 505. 
Nor was this opinion destitute of a show of reason. 
Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. 
3. Ostentatious display ; parade ; pomp. 
Plain without pomp, and rich without a show. 
Dryden, Flower and Leaf, 1. 187. 
In the middle ages, the love of show was carried to an 
extravagant length. 
The city [Geneva] itself makes the noblest show of any 
in the world. 
