English

Verb

show up

1. (intransitive) To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically.

   Please come on time; don't just show up whenever you feel like it.

   No matter how many I throw away, more copies always show up.

2. (transitive, idiomatic) To outperform or one-up, often in an arrogant manner.

   I finished in five minutes and she showed me up by finishing in three.

   • 2014, Daniel Taylor, "World Cup 2014: Uruguay sink England as Suárez makes his mark," guardian.co.uk, 20 June:

     His team were not outclassed but, once again, England have reminded us of their habit of being shown up as soon as they face half-decent opposition and one or two authentic category-A footballers.

3. (transitive) To make visible; to expose.

   I bet the Jayhawk fast break could show up the Nimrod's lack of speed.

Usage notes

• (outperform or one-up): The object is normally a person rather than a thing and may appear before or after up. However, if the object is a pronoun, then it comes before up.
• (make visible): The object normally comes after up, even when it is a pronoun.

Synonyms

• (appear): turn up

Related terms

• show off

Translations