Showdown

How to spell showdown

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce showdown

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does showdown mean?

1. nounA final confrontation or contest intended to settle a dispute or rivalry once and for all.

Showdown in a sentence

• The two rival firms are heading for a legal showdown over the patent.

• The budget vote set up a showdown between the two party leaders.

Where does showdown come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a compound built from two very old native English words, 'show' and 'down', but its specific modern meaning is surprisingly recent and distinctly American. 'Show' descends from the Old English sceawian, which originally meant 'to look at' or 'to inspect' before it shifted to mean 'to cause to be seen, to display'. 'Down' comes from Old English dūne, a shortening of ofdūne, literally 'off the hill', hence 'downward'. The combined term arose in American card-playing slang in the late 1800s, where the showdown was the moment players laid their cards face up on the table to decide the pot. From that gambling sense it broadened in the early 1900s to mean any decisive confrontation that settles a contest, which is the meaning most people use today.

How the word is built

• show (Old English sceawian: to display)
• down (Old English dūne: downward, to the ground)