dumb show

noun

a part of a dramatic representation given in pantomime, common in early English drama.

gestures without speech.

Words nearby dumb show

dumb cane, dumb cluck, dumb dora, dumb down, dumb sheave, dumb show, dumb-ass, dumb-cane, dumbarton, dumbarton oaks, dumbbell

Origin of dumb show

First recorded in 1555–65

OTHER WORDS FROM dumb show

dumb-show, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for dumb show

He withdrew thereupon, by order, straightway from Vienna; testifying in dumb-show what he thought.
History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XII. (of XXI.)|Thomas Carlyle
Murders that cannot find room elsewhere are perpetrated in dumb-show, ghosts within the wings cry out Vindicta!
The Growth of English Drama|Arnold Wynne
They walk up and down, moving their lips in dumb-show memorising.
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Stories|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
And by keeping the pipe firmly in his mouth he could prolong indefinitely the dumb-show of suffocation and hilarity.
Swann's Way|Marcel Proust

This dumb-show could not fail to attract the observation of Content.
The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish|James Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for dumb show

dumb show

noun

a part of a play acted in pantomime, popular in early English drama

meaningful gestures; mime

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012