shower

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English

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English shour, from Old English sċūr, from Proto-West Germanic *skūru, from Proto-Germanic *skūrō, probably from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱēwer- (“north; north wind; cold wind; rain shower”). Cognate with Dutch schoer, German Schauer, Old Norse skúr, Norwegian skur, Swedish skur.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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shower (plural showers)

  1. A brief fall of precipitation (spell of rain, or a similar fall of snow, sleet, or cascade); burst of hefty precipitation.
    Today there will be frequent showers and some sunny spells.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 24:8:
      They are wet with the showres of the mountaines, and imbrace the rocke for want of a shelter.
    • 2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 57:
      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 advancing shower. Wordsworth would have loved it!
  2. A device for bathing by 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 a shower.
    (UK, Australia)
    I’m going to take a shower.
    (especially US)
    Synonym: shower bath
  4. A quantity of something that has characteristics of a rain shower.
    a shower of sparks;  a meteor shower;  a Gatorade shower
  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 divorce shower?
    Her church group has planned an adoption shower.
    1. A bridal shower.
      The shower will be held at the home of the bridesmaid.
    2. A baby shower.
      Her friends are throwing her a shower after 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 also shower (juggling) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  8. (obsolete) A battle, an attack; conflict.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xiiij”, in Le 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 harder shoure than euer I kepte her
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  9. (chiefly Ireland, UK, Australia, derogatory) A shower of shit.
    • 1956, Private's Progress (motion picture):
      You all behaved like a shower, now you are to be treated like a shower
  10. (chiefly Ireland, euphemistic, derogatory, with of and 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, page 208, →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, “You shower of 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 the singular) A group of people perceived as incompetent or worthless.
    • 2023 October 18, Christian Wolmar, “The back of a fag packet used for unworkable rail plans”, in RAIL, number 994, page 45:
      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 this shower?
Descendants
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  • → Hindi: शावर (śāvar)
  • → Japanese: シャワー (shawā)
  • → Korean: 샤워 (syawo)
  • → Pashto: شاور (šāwar)
  • → Persian: شاور (šâvar) (Dari)
  • → Urdu: شاوَر (śāvar)
Translations
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Verb

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shower (third-person singular simple present showers, present participle showering, simple past and past participle showered)

  1. (followed by with) To spray with (a specified liquid).
  2. To bathe using a shower.
  3. To bestow liberally, to give or distribute in abundance.
    • 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 are showered on 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”, in In the Pocket, →OCLC:
      Shower the people you love with love / Show them the way that you feel
  4. (intransitive) To rain in a shower; to cascade down.
Synonyms
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  • (bathe using a shower): have a shower (British), take a shower (especially US)
Translations
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Derived terms

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Terms derived from the noun or verb shower

Etymology 2

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From Middle English showre, schawere, schewere (“one who exhibits something, actor; watchman, overseer, guide; sign; mirror; index finger”), from Old English sċēawere (“an observer, one who examines into a matter; a spy; mirror; actor, buffoon”), equivalent to show +‎ -er. Cognate with Dutch schouwer (“observer, visionary, clairvoyant”), German Schauer (“an inspector”).

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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shower (plural showers)

  1. One who shows.
    • 2006, Bruce Christianson, Bruno Crispo, James A. Malcolm, Security Protocols: 12th International Workshop, page 18:
      When you show a credential there's a protocol whereby the showee has assurance that the shower possesses 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, page 153:
      Once the showee looks at the object, the shower removes 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 great shower at the fair this year.
  5. (slang) A man whose penis is close to its full (erect) size when flaccid, or the penis itself. [from 1990s]
    Antonym: grower
    • 1993, Barry Burns, “Muffin on Parade”, in soc.motss‎[1] (Usenet):
      As a man who can best be described as a "grower not a shower", 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”, in seattle.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 a shower than a grower […]
Derived terms
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Translations
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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Middle English

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Noun

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shower

  1. Alternative form of schour

Swedish

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Noun

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shower

  1. indefinite plural of show
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