shower

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Etymology 1

[edit]

FromMiddle Englishshour,fromOld Englishsċūr,fromProto-West Germanic*skūru,fromProto-Germanic*skūrō,probably fromProto-Indo-European*(s)ḱēwer-(“north; north wind; cold wind; rain shower”).Cognate withDutchschoer,GermanSchauer,Old Norseskúr,Norwegianskur,Swedishskur.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

shower(pluralshowers)

  1. A brieffallofprecipitation(spellofrain,or a similar fall ofsnow,sleet,orcascade);burstofheftyprecipitation.
    Today there will be frequentshowersand some sunny spells.
    • 1611,The Holy Bible,[…](King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker,[…],→OCLC,Job24:8:
      They are wet with theshowresof the mountaines, and imbrace the rocke for want of a shelter.
    • 2022November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, inRAIL,number969,page57:
      Occasionally, the sun pierces the clouds like a searchlight to illuminate a feature such as a farm, copse or stream, before being overwhelmed by an advancingshower.Wordsworth would have loved it!
  2. A device forbathingby which water is made to fall on the body from a height, either from a tank or by the action of a pump.
    Synonym:shower bath
  3. An instance of using of this device in order to bathe oneself.
    I’m going to have ashower.
    (UK,Australia)
    I’m going to take ashower.
    (especially US)
    Synonym:shower bath
  4. A quantity of something that has characteristics of a rain shower.
    ashowerof sparks;  a meteorshower;  a Gatoradeshower
  5. A party associated with a significant event in a person's life, at which the person usually receives gifts.
    Would male strippers be appropriate for the divorceshower?
    Her church group has planned an adoptionshower.
    1. Abridal shower.
      Theshowerwill be held at the home of the bridesmaid.
    2. Ababy shower.
      Her friends are throwing her ashowerafter her mom leaves.
  7. (juggling)A pattern where the juggler passes objects horizontally from one hand to the other around chest height, and upward over the juggler's head to return to the first hand.
    See alsoshower (juggling)on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  8. (obsolete)Abattle,anattack;conflict.
    • 1485,Sir Thomas Malory,“xiiij”,inLe Morte Darthur,book XX:
      With this I maye be sure to come sauf / and goo sauf / and that the quene shal haue her lyberte as she had before / and neuer for no thynge that hath ben surmysed afore this tyme / she neuer fro this day stande in no peryll / for els sayd sir launcelot I dare auenture me to kepe her from an hardershourethan euer I kepte her
      (pleaseadd an English translationof this quotation)
  9. (chieflyIreland,UK,Australia,derogatory)Ashower of shit.
    • 1956,Private's Progress(motion picture):
      You all behaved like ashower,now you are to be treated like ashower
  10. (chieflyIreland,euphemistic,derogatory,withofand an invective)Used as an intensifying pluralizer or intensifier
    • 1991,Allen Feldman,Formations of Violence: The Narrative of the Body and Political Terror in Northern Ireland,University of Chicago Press,→ISBN,page208,→ISBN:
      It was one of the worst feelings in the H-Block, one of the worst experiences to sit and listen to somebody getting beat. Because you were totally powerless, and you would always get somebody shouting at the door, “Youshowerof bastards!” It was always a crowd of screws and one or two naked men in a cell. They had total control.
  11. (British,informal,in thesingular)A group of people perceived as incompetent or worthless.
    • 2023October 18, Christian Wolmar, “The back of a fag packet used for unworkable rail plans”, inRAIL,number994,page45:
      But when I tweeted it out, most of the responses (from the more than one million viewers) were along the lines of: 'what do you expect from thisshower?
Descendants
[edit]
  • →Hindi:शावर(śāvar)
  • →Japanese:シャワー(shawā)
  • →Korean:샤워(syawo)
  • →Pashto:شاور(šāwar)
  • →Persian:شاور(šâvar)(Dari)
  • →Urdu:شاوَر(śāvar)
Translations
[edit]

Verb

[edit]

shower(third-person singular simple presentshowers,present participleshowering,simple past and past participleshowered)

  1. (followed bywith)To spray with (a specified liquid).
  2. Tobatheusing a shower.
  3. Tobestowliberally, togiveordistributeinabundance.
    • 1919,Boris Sidis,The Source and Aim of Human Progress:
      The individual in the army becomes used to holding human life in contempt, in fact the greater the slaughter, the greater is his merit; and the more medals, ribbons, and honors of hero-worship areshoweredon him, the more he becomes, after a time, indifferent to all sorts of human suffering and loss of human life.
    • 1979,James Taylor(lyrics and music), “Shower the People”,inIn the Pocket,→OCLC:
      Showerthe people you love with love / Show them the way that you feel
  4. (intransitive)To rain in a shower; to cascade down.
Synonyms
[edit]
  • (bathe using a shower):have a shower(British),take a shower(especially US)
Translations
[edit]

Derived terms

[edit]
Terms derived from the noun or verbshower

Etymology 2

[edit]

FromMiddle Englishshowre,schawere,schewere(“one who exhibits something, actor; watchman, overseer, guide; sign; mirror; index finger”),fromOld Englishsċēawere(“an observer, one who examines into a matter; a spy; mirror; actor, buffoon”),equivalent toshow+‎-er.Cognate withDutchschouwer(“observer, visionary, clairvoyant”),GermanSchauer(“an inspector”).

Alternative forms

[edit]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

shower(pluralshowers)

  1. One whoshows.
    • 2006,Bruce Christianson, Bruno Crispo, James A. Malcolm,Security Protocols: 12th International Workshop,page18:
      When you show a credential there's a protocol whereby the showee has assurance that theshowerpossesses a credential of the particular type without actually seeing the bit string.
    • 2018,Elisabeth Reber, Cornelia Gerhardt,Embodied Activities in Face-to-Face and Mediated Settings,page153:
      Once the showee looks at the object, theshowerremoves his or her gaze from the showee and gazes back at the object (see below and Fig. 5.2).
  3. An object or activity that is shown in a contest.
    That calf is going to be a greatshowerat the fair this year.
  5. (slang)A man whosepenisis close to its full (erect) size whenflaccid,or the penis itself.[from 1990s]
    Antonym:grower
    • 1993,Barry Burns, “Muffin on Parade”, insoc.motss‎[1](Usenet):
      As a man who can best be described as a "grower not ashower",I helped Brent realize that many people in the gay community are concerned in a very adolescent way with their dick size, including me.
    • 1994,jenster, “Penis Size and other Eternal Questions”, inseattle.general‎[2](Usenet):
      "Growers" are guys whose penises tend to contract a lot lengthwise when flaccid, while "show-ers"are guys whose penises could be said to merely" deflate "without contracting much in length.
    • 2003,Austin Foxxe,Three the Hard Way: Tales of Three-way Sex Between Men‎[3]:
      His dick, if I remember correctly, is more of ashowerthan a grower[…]
Derived terms
[edit]
Translations
[edit]

Further reading

[edit]

Anagrams

[edit]

Middle English

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

shower

  1. Alternative form ofschour

Swedish

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

shower

  1. indefinitepluralofshow
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=shower&oldid=81187062"