exhibit
Americanverb (used with object)
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exhibits,
present (3rd person singular)
-
exhibited,
past participle, past
-
exhibiting
present participle
-
to offer or expose to view; present for inspection.
to exhibit the latest models of cars.
- Synonyms:
- demonstrate, show
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to manifest or display.
to exhibit anger; to exhibit interest.
- Antonyms:
- conceal
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to place on show.
to exhibit paintings.
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to make manifest; explain.
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Law. to submit (a document, object, etc.) in evidence in a court of law.
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Medicine/Medical Obsolete. to administer (something) as a remedy.
verb (used without object)
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exhibits,
present (3rd person singular)
-
exhibited,
past participle, past
-
exhibiting
present participle
noun
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exhibits
plural
verb
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(also intr) to display (something) to the public for interest or instruction
this artist exhibits all over the world
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to manifest; display; show
the child exhibited signs of distress
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law to produce (a document or object) in court to serve as evidence
noun
-
an object or collection exhibited to the public
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law a document or object produced in court and referred to or identified by a witness in giving evidence
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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exhibitantnoun
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exhibiternoun
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exhibitornoun
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preexhibitnoun
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reexhibitverb (used with object)
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exhibitableadjective
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exhibitoryadjective
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self-exhibitedadjective
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unexhibitableadjective
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unexhibitedadjective
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well-exhibitedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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exhibitsimple
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exhibitssimple
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have exhibitedperfect
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has exhibitedperfect
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am exhibitingprogressive
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are exhibitingprogressive
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is exhibitingprogressive
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have been exhibitingperfect progressive
-
has been exhibitingperfect progressive
Past
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exhibitedsimple
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had exhibitedperfect
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was exhibitingprogressive
-
were exhibitingprogressive
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had been exhibitingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of exhibit
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English exhibiten “to show,” from Latin exhibitus, past participle of exhibēre, from ex- ex- 1 + -hibēre (combining form of habēre “to have”); cf. habit 1
Explanation
An exhibit is an item that is shown off for the public, such as a painting on display at a gallery or a historical document shown under glass at a museum. The main thing to remember about an exhibit is that it refers to something presented formally and in a public setting. For example, if you put an action figure on a side table in your apartment and your friends come by and notice it, well, it’s just an action figure on a side table. Put that same action figure on a pedestal in a fancy gallery, arrange it just so, and voilà! It’s an exhibit. People may even look it over and discuss its meaning in hushed tones. Students of law — or people who watch a lot of TV — will know that when used in a legal context, the word exhibit can also refer to an item presented as evidence in a legal court.
Vocabulary lists containing exhibit
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Quantum particles can exhibit both wave-like and particle-like properties, but the universe as a whole does not necessarily have a built-in time variable.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026
“It was a gigantic undertaking,” she wrote of staging the exhibit, adding that she had stepped in to help McGee realize his “dream-come-true project.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
It’s an outgrowth of merging an entirely new kind of exhibit with a more traditional one.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
They discovered that the spiders exhibit two clearly distinguishable sleep stages.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026
"A special exhibit on the Abominable Snowman opened at the museum today," the reporter was saying.
From "Case of the Sneaky Snowman: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #5" by Carolyn Keene
Its exhibits "moved to storage," according to a guide at the new museum.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
The creature is occupied and controlled by Anida Yoeu Ali, a Cambodian-born artist who lives in Tacoma, Wash. Ali’s numerous performance-based exhibits explore her Cambodian-American identity and Buddhist and Muslim religions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
The group then head to the US National Archives for a tour of the building and its exhibits.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
I enlisted my husband, who is a lawyer, to draft a more detailed appeal that included exhibits from my employer health-plan documents.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
He was delighted to find that what visitors liked best were not the exhibits but the buildings, waterways, and scenery and that the fair had surprised them.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
At the same time, these clones exhibited reduced activity of the PD1 gene.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026
"Some of the language used on more than one occasion and the behaviour you have exhibited could cause offence to your housemates or the viewing public."
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
“But it was true bravery the Dakota exhibited in giving this to us. Where would we be if we could collectively acknowledge the harm we’ve done?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
They share an ease and rapport neither has readily exhibited on camera before — certainly not around virtual strangers.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
Shirley Povich of The Washington Post thought he exhibited “complete, overwhelming and colossal indifference.”
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
TeamLab got its start in Tokyo in 2001, but over the years grew from exhibiting in galleries to building its own museum-like spaces, today having permanent locales in Japan, China and Saudi Arabia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
In other words, the universe could behave much like the standard model predicts near a central region while exhibiting different expansion behavior farther away.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
In its closing arguments, the prosecution condemned Luque's "inaction," saying his attitude "was always to do nothing" in the face of the warning signs that Maradona was exhibiting.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
Researchers have discovered a spate of instances of OpenAI’s artificial-intelligence models exhibiting rogue behavior online in recent weeks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
Debussy’s 'Gardens in the rain’, though, was composed in 1903, a good thirty years after the Impressionist painters had first begun exhibiting their works to a disconcerted Parisian public.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
