▪ I. showing, vbl. n.
(ˈʃəʊɪŋ)
[f. show v. + -ing1; in OE. scéawung, scéawing.]
1. a. The action of displaying, exhibiting, manifesting, etc.; the fact of being displayed, etc.; with pl., an instance of this.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xii. 40 Under sceawung longes ᵹebeddes [sub obtentu prolixae orationis]. a 1300 Cursor M. 26110 Scrift es opin scheuing o breist Laufulli mad be-for þe preist. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 29 Of this openlic schauing Hauis Godd schawed many taking. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 25 By the ostencyon or shewynge of grace. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 225 There were great embracynges and shewynges of frendship on both sydes. 1709 Hearne Collect. 13 Mar. (O.H.S.) II. 176 Mr. Lhuyd..made what he could by Shewing. 1765 Treat. Dom. Pigeons 11 When you observe the hen to sweep her tail to the cock..which is termed shewing. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. i. vii, In one of those wheelings and showings of new front. |
b. with adv., as showing off, showing up.
| 1874 Garrod in Proc. Zool. Soc. 471 On the ‘showing-off’ of the Australian Bustard. 1887 ‘F. Anstey’ in Graphic 31 Dec. 727/3 He was annoyed with them for what he considered was ‘showing off’. 1923 ‘K. Mansfield’ Doves' Nest 143 She detected that morning just the very faintest boyish showing off. 1962 N. Streatfeild Apple Bough xviii. 255 Wolfgang put on his showing-off voice... ‘I'm starring in this new picture.’ 1973 J. Patrick Glasgow Gang Observed vi. 64 Tim summed up..the boy's loss of face: ‘Whit a showin' up in front o' aw the boays.’ |
† c. to make showing of: to exhibit, display, reveal; to tell of, describe, relate. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22298 Þar sal he..sceuing make of his maistris. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 7626 Of whom y made bifore scheweing. 1477 Cov. Leet Bk. 422 To make a clere shewing of the same before certen oure..Counsellours. |
d. Cinemat. and Television. The projection of a film on to a screen; the exhibition or broadcasting of a film. Also, an instance of this.
| 1947 Ann. Reg. 1946 376 British films..have brought $8,000,000 back to this country in 1946 from their American showings. 1967 Listener 6 July 15/1 The first London showings of..New Faces filled a cinema in Tooting with a stream of unaccustomed patrons. 1972 ‘E. Ferrars’ Breath of Suspicion iii. 45 They had arrived just as the earlier showing of the film was ending. |
e. A public exhibition of the work of an artist or fashion designer; an art or fashion show.
| 1967 ‘T. Wells’ Dead by Light of Moon (1968) i. 8 Wouldn't you know something like this would happen at my first important showing? All the big art critics here, and somebody has to jinx the lights! 1969 ‘H. Pentecost’ Girl Watcher's Funeral (1970) iii. i. 136 It's about my showing on Friday... The fashion writers and the trade journals haven't given me much of a play. 1982 Times 3 Aug. 6/1 A decade or so ago, the couture salons of Paris were filled with American store buyers. At the showings this week, there weren't any store buyers. |
† 2. A sight, spectacle. Obs.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 187 Neron..bead þæt eall þæt folc come to þisse sceawunga. c 1450 Brut 426 The meyre and aldremen..lete..make many diuerse shewyngis and sightis. |
3. O.E. Law. A duty or toll payable for the right of displaying goods for sale; = L. ostensio.
In spurious charters of Edward the Confessor and William I; see Kemble Cod. Dipl. IV. 213, 215, Thorpe Diplom. 359, 411.
| ? 1121 Charter Hen. I in New Palæogr. Soc. I. (1903) pl. 20(1) Cum saca et soca..et miskenninge et sceawinge. 12.. Annales de Burton in Ann. Monast. (Rolls) I. 247 Liberi sint ab omni scoto et geldo..et stallagio, schewinge, mischenninge. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 95 Schewynge, settynge forþ of marchaundise. |
4. Manner of putting a case: in phrases on this showing (= if the facts be as thus represented), on one's own showing, etc.
| [1408 tr. Vegetius De re milit. (MS. Digby 233) lf. 183 b/2 After wyse mennys schewyng.] 1857 Mill Pol. Econ. iii. xii. §7 (ed. 4) II. 70 On this showing, the notes at least of private banks are not money. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. II. x. 502 The revolt could not be justified on any showing. 1869 Latham, s.v., This is proved even by your own showing. 1883 Manch. Guard. 17 Oct. 5/2 The step which the United Kingdom Alliance wants Parliament to take is on their own showing a momentous one. |
5. A statement or presentation of figures, accounts, or the like. Chiefly U.S.
| 1868 Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 51 This is a very meager showing, but an export of ten times the amount would be worse. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 453 We have been unable to obtain any data that justifies a showing so favorable. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 31 July 9/1 On the whole it is not at all a bad ‘showing’, and shareholders need not fidget. |
6. U.S. An appearance or display of a specified kind. Phrases to make a (good or bad) showing.
| 1890 in Leffingwell Upland Shooting 459 [The greyhounds] made a very sorry showing in the public contests. 1901 N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 240 Like all officers, I was intensely interested in the showing made by the different forces. |
7. Outward appearance. † fair showing, fair appearance or seeming; persuasiveness (of speech).
| 1340 Ayenb. 36 Huanne þet hi [corn and vines] byeþ of uaire ssewynge. c 1400 Rom. Rose 4041 Than, al abawid in shewing, Anoon spak Dreed. c 1412 Lydg. Reas. & Sens. 3917 [Apples] Delytable in shewyng, But wonder bitter in tastyng. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xviii. ii. 728 The quene outward made no maner of sorowe in shewynge. 1903 R. Kipling Five Nations 1 Who hath desired..His Sea in no showing the same—his Sea and the same 'neath each showing. |
8. a. Something that is shown or appears; a manifestation, revelation (of); a sign or token; a dream or vision. book of showing(s: the Apocalypse. Obs. exc. Hist.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 268 Ase lease swefnes, & false scheauwinges. a 1300 Cursor M. 10707 Þat he þam suld sli sceuing scau, þat þai moght wit sum taknyng knau Quat þai suld do. Ibid. 21039 Þe bok o scheuing þer he wrat. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3401 Thow has a schewynge, sir kynge, take kepe ȝif the lyke! 1450–1530 Myrr. Our Ladye 16 With meruaylous tokens and shewynges. c 1485 Digby Myst. iii. 1621 A mervelows shewyng In my slep I had. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede III. l. 224 It is a vain thought to flee from the work that God appoints us... But now, I believe, I have a clear showing that my work lies elsewhere. 1978 F. Beer Julian of Norwich's Revelations 28 These four shewings seem without question to fall into the first of Julian's ‘thre partyes’. |
† b. An appearance or indication of (something).
| c 1491 Chast. Goddes Chyld. (Caxton) 50 Whether there be in hym ony sheweng of vainglory. |
c. = show n.1 5 c.
| 1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 28 July 7/2 The work now in progress at the property consists in the stripping downwards of the showings in these workings, which will afford..an idea of the character of the ore showings over a depth of 900 feet. 1977 J. B. Hilton Dead-Nettle ii. 20 ‘I'll drive deep. Happen there's another seam.’ ‘Then your first job is to collect your showing.’ |
▪ II. ˈshowing, ppl. a.
[f. show v. + -ing2.]
1. That displays, exhibits, indicates, etc.
† showing finger, the forefinger or index.
| c 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 22 Þan at first putte the leche þe schewyng fynger of his left hande..in-to þe lure of þe pacient. 1522 J. Vaus Rudimenta B 6 b (Jam.) Indicatiuo modo, schawand mode. 1551 T. Wilson Logic (1580) 27 b, The first called a demonstratiue, or shewyng reduction [= reductio ostensiva], is made by conuersion of the Propositions. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 125 It is written at the length, and in most shewyng maner, to their honour and worship. |
† 2. That appears; seeming; evident. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iv. pr i. (1868) 109 Þe þinges þat þou hast seid me hider to ben to me so clere and so shewyng [patuerunt]..þat þei ne mowe nat ben ouercomen. 1579 J. Stubbes Gaping Gulf A 2, Deceiued by theyr lusts to embrace a shewing and false good. |
3. Hort. Of fruit: Beginning to appear.
| 1794 M{supc}Phail Treat. Cucumber 155, I..picked off several of the showing and set fruit where they were too thick. |
4. With advbs., as showing-up. rare.
| a 1941 V. Woolf New Dress in Haunted House (1943) 49 The looking-glass..that dreadfully showing-up blue pool. |