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Action vs Show - What's the difference?

action | show |

As nouns the difference between action and show

is that action is something done so as to accomplish a purpose while show is show, spectacle.

As an interjection action

is demanding or signifying the start of something, usually an act or scene of a theatric performance.

As a verb action

is (management) to act on a request etc, in order to put it into effect.

action

English

(wikipedia action)

Noun

(en noun)
  • Something done so as to accomplish a purpose.
  • A way of motion or functioning.
  • Knead bread with a rocking action .
  • A fast-paced activity.
  • an action movie
  • A mechanism; a moving part or assembly.
  • a rifle action
  • (music): The mechanism, that is the set of moving mechanical parts, of a keyboard instrument, like a piano, which transfers the motion of the key to the sound-making device.Marshall Cavendish Corporation Growing Up with Science p.1079
  • (slang) sexual intercourse.
  • She gave him some action .
  • The distance separating the strings and the fretboard on the guitar.
  • (military) Combat.
  • He saw some action in the Korean War.
  • (legal) A charge or other process in a law court (also called lawsuit and actio ).
  • (mathematics) A mapping from a pairing of mathematical objects to one of them, respecting their individual structures. The pairing is typically a Cartesian product or a tensor product. The object that is not part of the output is said to act'' on the other object. In any given context, ''action'' is used as an abbreviation for a more fully named notion, like group action or ''left group action.
  • The event or connected series of events, either real or imaginary, forming the subject of a play, poem, or other composition; the unfolding of the drama of events.
  • (art, painting and sculpture) The attitude or position of the several parts of the body as expressive of the sentiment or passion depicted.
  • (bowling) spin put on the bowling ball.
  • (business, obsolete, a Gallicism) A share in the capital stock of a joint-stock company, or in the public funds.
  • * Burke
  • The Euripus of funds and actions .

    Derived terms

    * actioner * action hero * action item * action man * action movie * action star * actions speak louder than words * direct action * ! * lost in action * missing in action * piece of the action * social action * take action

    See also

    * deed *

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • Demanding or signifying the start of something, usually an act or scene of a theatric performance.
  • The director yelled ‘Action !’ before the camera started rolling.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (management) To act on a request etc, in order to put it into effect.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2004
  • , publisher=Pearson Education , author=Ros Jay, Richard Templar , title=Fast Thinking Manager's Manual , edition=Second edition , chapter=Fast thinking: project , section=Fast Thinking Leader citation , isbn=9780273681052 , page=276 , passage=‘Here, give me the minutes of Monday’s meeting. I’ll action your points for you while you get on and sort out the open day.’}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=2005
  • , publisher=Routledge , author=Fritz Liebreich , title=Britain's Navel and Political Reaction to the Illegal Immigration of Jews to Palestine, 1945-1948 , chapter=The physical confrontation: interception and diversion policies in theory and practice citation , isbn=9780714656373 , page=196 , passage=Violent reactions from the Jewish authorities were expected and difficulties of actioning the new guidelines were foreseen.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=2007
  • , publisher=The Stationery Office , editor= , author=Great Britain: Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman , title=Tax Credits: Getting it wrong? 5th report session 2006-2007 , chapter=Case study: 11257 , section=Chapter 2: Changes and developments since June 2005 citation , isbn=9780102951172 , page=26 , passage=HMRC said that one reason they had not actioned her appeal was because she had said in her appeal form ‘I am appealing against the overpayment for childcare for 2003-04, 2004-05’, thus implying she was disputing her ‘overpayment’.}}
  • (transitive, chiefly, archaic) To initiate a legal action against someone.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1856
  • , publisher=Stringer & Townsend , author=Thomas Chandler Haliburton , title=The Attaché: or Sam Slick in England , section=Chapter XLVII: The Horse Stealer; or All Trades Have Tricks But Our Own , edition=New Revised Edition citation , page=270 , passage=‘I have no business to settle with you—arrest me, Sir, at your peril and I’ll action you in law for false imprisonment.’}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1844
  • , year_published= , publisher=T. C. Newby , author=Robert Mackenzie Daniel , title=The Grave Digger: A novel by the author of The Scottish Heiress , volume=I , section=Chapter IX: How the Grave-differ entertained a lady citation , pages=189-190 , passage=“Scrip threatened me at first with an action for slander—he spoke of actions to the wrong man though—action! no, no no. I should have actioned him—ha! ha! [...]”}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1871
  • , year_published=2002 , publisher=Oxford University Press US , author=Michael Shermer , quotee=(Alfred Russell Wallace) , title=In Darwin’s shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russell Wallace , section=Chapter 10. Heretic Personality citation , isbn=9780195148305 , page=261 , passage=I have actioned him for Libel, but he won’t plead, and says he will make himself bankrupt & won’t pay a penny.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1996
  • , publisher=Boydell & Brewer , author=Darryl Mark Ogier , title=Reformation and Society in Guernsey , chapter=Discipline: Enforcement , section=Part Two: The Calvinist Regime citation , isbn=9780851156033 , page=148 , passage=In 1589 the Court went so far as to effect a reconciliation between Michel le Petevin and his wife after she actioned him for ill treatment and adultery with their chambermaid.}}

    Usage notes

    * The verb sense (term) is rejected by some usage authorities., page 3

    References

    * OED 2nd edition 1989 * Notes:

    show

    English

    Alternative forms

    * shew (archaic)

    Verb

  • To display, to have somebody see (something).
  • * , chapter=22
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.}}
  • To bestow; to confer.
  • to show''' mercy; to '''show favour
  • To indicate (a fact) to be true; to demonstrate.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April
  • , author=John T. Jost, volume=100, issue=2, page=162, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)? , passage=He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record. With this biological framework in place, Corning endeavors to show that the capitalist system as currently practiced in the United States and elsewhere is manifestly unfair.}}
  • To guide or escort.
  • To be visible, to be seen.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • Just such she shows before a rising storm.
  • * (1809-1892)
  • All round a hedge upshoots, and shows / At distance like a little wood.
  • *
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage='Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed .}}
  • (informal) To put in an appearance; show up.
  • (informal) To have an enlarged belly and thus be recognizable as pregnant.
  • (racing) To finish third, especially of horses or dogs.
  • (obsolete) To have a certain appearance, such as well or ill, fit or unfit; to become or suit; to appear.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • My lord of York, it better showed with you.

    Usage notes

    In the past, shew'' was used as a past tense form and ''shewed as a past participle of this verb; both forms are now archaic.

    Synonyms

    * (display) display, indicate, point out, reveal, exhibit * (indicate a fact to be true) demonstrate, prove * (put in an appearance) arrive, show up

    Antonyms

    * (display) conceal, cover up, hide * (indicate a fact to be true) disprove, refute

    Derived terms

    * show a clean pair of heels * show ankle * * show off * show one's true colors * show one's true stripes * show somebody the door * show up

    See also

    * showcase * showdown

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (countable) A play, dance, or other entertainment.
  • * , chapter=4
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show . He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all.}}
  • (countable) An exhibition of items.
  • (countable) A demonstration.
  • (countable) A broadcast program/programme.
  • (countable) A movie.
  • (uncountable) Mere display or pomp with no substance.
  • * Young
  • I envy none their pageantry and show .
  • A project or presentation.
  • Let's get on with the show'''.   Let's get this '''show''' on the road.   They went on an international road '''show''' to sell the shares to investors.   It was Apple's usual dog and pony ' show .
  • The major leagues.
  • (mining, obsolete) A pale blue flame at the top of a candle flame, indicating the presence of firedamp.
  • (Raymond)
  • (obsolete) Semblance; likeness; appearance.
  • * Bible, Luke xx. 46. 47
  • Beware of the scribes,which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers.
  • * (John Milton)
  • He through the midst unmarked, / In show plebeian angel militant / Of lowest order, passed.
  • (medicine) A discharge, from the vagina, of mucus streaked with blood, occurring a short time before labor.
  • Synonyms

    * (exhibition) exhibition, exposition * (demonstration) demonstration, illustration, proof * program(me) * (mere display with no substance) , front, superficiality * (baseball) big leagues

    Derived terms

    * showbusiness, showbiz * show business * showlike * showy * talk show

    See also

    * showman * showpiece * show-stopper * show-stopping

    Statistics

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