dumb show

noun

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

gestures without speech.

Nearby words

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

Origin of dumb show

First recorded in 1555–65

Related formsdumb-show, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

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

dumb show

noun

RELATED CONTENT

Nearby words

Origin of dumb show

Examples from the Web for dumb show

British Dictionary definitions for dumb show

dumb show

noun