What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Pose vs Show - What's the difference?

pose | show |

As an adjective pose

is (heraldry|of a beast) standing still, with all the feet on the ground.

As a noun show is

show, spectacle.

pose

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) pose, from (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) common cold, head cold; catarrh
  • * 1586 , W. Harrison
  • Now have we many chimnies, and yet our tenderlings complain of rheums, catarrhs, and poses .

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) posen, from (etyl) ; influenced by (etyl) ponere.

    Verb

    (pos)
  • To place in an attitude or fixed position, for the sake of effect.
  • To pose a model for a picture.
  • Ask; set (a test, quiz, riddle, etc.).
  • To constitute (a danger, a threat, a risk, etc.).
  • * 2010 , Noam Chomsky, The Iranian threat , Z Magazine, vol 23, number 7:
  • Rather, they are concerned with the threat Iran poses to the region and the world.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=September 2 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Bulgaria 0-3 England , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Rooney's United team-mate Chris Smalling was given his debut at right-back and was able to adjust to the international stage in relatively relaxed fashion as Bulgaria barely posed a threat of any consequence.}}
  • * 2014 , Ian Black, " Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis", The Guardian , 27 November 2014:
  • The threat the most radical of them pose is evidently far greater at home than abroad: in one characteristically slick and chilling Isis video – entitled “a message to the Jordanian tyrant” – a smiling, long-haired young man in black pats the explosive belt round his waist as he burns his passport and his fellow fighters praise the memory of Zarqawi, who was killed in Iraq in 2006.
  • Assume or maintain a pose; strike an attitude.
  • * Thackeray
  • He posed before her as a hero.
  • (obsolete) To interrogate; to question.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • She posed him and sifted him.
  • (obsolete) To question with a view to puzzling; to embarrass by questioning or scrutiny; to bring to a stand.
  • * Barrow
  • A question wherewith a learned Pharisee thought to pose and puzzle him.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Position, posture, arrangement (especially of the human body).
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway,
  • Affectation.
  • Derived terms
    * posable

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) posen, a combination of aphetic forms of (etyl) aposen and opposen. More at appose, oppose.

    Alternative forms

    * (l)

    Verb

    (pos)
  • (obsolete) To ask (someone) questions; to interrogate.
  • * 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Luke II:
  • And hit fortuned that after .iii. dayes, they founde hym in the temple sittinge in the middes of the doctours, both hearynge them, and posinge them.
  • to puzzle, non-plus, or embarrass with difficult questions.
  • To perplex or confuse (someone).
  • Derived terms
    * poser

    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

    *