showdown

Etymology

It is formed from English show + down,^[2][3][4][5] after the phrasal verb “to show down”, to lay one's hand face up at poker.^[2][6][7] Dictionary.com marks it as an Americanism.^[5] Etymonline notes the hyphenated spelling “show-down” as well.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In card games, especially poker, the moment at the end of a round when the players lay their cards face up to see who has won: 1870, in the Owyhee Avalanche,^[2] 1873 in Etymonline,^[3] and 1884 in Merriam-Webster.^[6][8]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline calls the card term slang at first.^[3] From the poker table the word passed to other moments of disclosure: from 1880 it could mean an open declaration of one's plans or means, a sense now rare.^[2] From 1893 it meant an event, especially a confrontation, that settles a dispute or forces an issue to a conclusion;^[2] Green's Dictionary of Slang has this sense, first in American use, from 1895,^[9] and Etymonline dates the figurative "final confrontation" to 1904.^[3] The Shorter Oxford places the general "decisive test or confrontation" in the early 20th century.^[4] In Westerns it came to mean in particular the final duel between two gunfighters (1917).^[2] American military use had a showdown for a kit inspection from 1920, now rare,^[2] and showdown also became the name of a poker game (1927).^[2] In American prison slang it was recorded in 1972 for private time with a partner.^[10]

Timeline

• 1870 – in poker, the laying down of the hands face up.^[2]
• 1880 – an open disclosure of one's plans (now rare).^[2]
• 1893 – a confrontation that settles an issue.^[2]
• 1895 – in American slang, a confrontation.^[9]
• 1917 – in Westerns, a duel between two gunfighters.^[2]
• 1920 – in the US military, a kit inspection.^[2]
• 1927 – a form of poker.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A decisive confrontation or contest that brings a dispute to an end: The two candidates are heading for a showdown in the final debate.^{[11][6][12][2]}
2. In Westerns, the final duel between two gunfighters.^[2]
3. In poker, the moment at the end of a hand when the players lay their cards face up to decide who wins the pot.^{[11][6][12][2]}
4. (rare) An open disclosure of one's plans or resources.^[2][4]

Related words

• show
• down

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
10. ^ Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
11. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins