run the show

Idioms  

1. Take charge, assume control, as in Ever since Bill retired from the business, his daughter's been running the show. The word show here simply means “kind of undertaking.” [First half of 1900s] A similar usage is run one's own show, meaning “exert control over one's own activities” or “act independently.” For example, The high school drama club didn't ask permission to perform that play—they want to run their own show. [Mid-1900s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

run the show

Lorenzo: Celtic cannot progress while the same faces run the show with their regular-managed decline.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2025

“Over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it,” Owens wrote in a message obtained by the Times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2025

"So this is the worry, you need the correct creative people to run the show."

From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2025

Powerful institutional investors like mutual funds and index funds typically run the show.

From New York Times ● Mar. 30, 2024

In Africa, Gene had felt that C. J. was trying to run the show, and it irritated Gene to no end.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Related Words

• administer
• conduct
• dominate
• govern
• guide
• handle
• maintain
• operate
• oversee
• regulate
• run
• supervise
• take care of
• take over
• train
• use