Standard Lemma guide

showdown

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈʃoʊˌdaʊn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: SH OW1 D AW2 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The final battle between two opponents, in which there can be only one victor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, idiomatic, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The final round in a poker match, where all of the remaining players' cards have to be put down on the table and shown.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: card-games, poker

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a hostile disagreement face-to-face

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: confrontation, encounter, face-off

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: disagreement

History

Etymology

From show + down.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: решителна битка (rešitelna bitka) — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Chinese Mandarin: 對決 /对决 (duìjué) — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Czech: utkání kdo s koho — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Czech: rozhodující souboj — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Czech: zúčtování — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Dutch: krachtmeting — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Finnish: välienselvittely — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • French: confrontation finale — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • German: Showdown — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • German: entscheidender Machtkampf — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Hungarian: leszámolás — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Icelandic: lokauppgjör — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Japanese: 決戦 (kessen) — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Polish: ostateczna rozgrywka — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Portuguese: confronto — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Russian: фина́льный поеди́нок (finálʹnyj pojedínok) — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Russian: реша́ющая схва́тка (rešájuščaja sxvátka) — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Serbo-Croatian: konačni obračun — the final battle between two nemeses, in which there can be but one victor
  • Bulgarian: показване на картите (pokazvane na kartite) — the final round in a poker match
  • Chinese Mandarin: 攤牌 /摊牌 (tānpái) — the final round in a poker match
  • Czech: vyložení karet — the final round in a poker match
  • Russian: раскры́тие карт (raskrýtije kart) — the final round in a poker match
  • Serbo-Croatian: otkrivanje karata — the final round in a poker match
  • Serbo-Croatian: polaganje karata — the final round in a poker match
Real reading context

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