show and tell

noun

an activity for young children, especially in school, in which each participant produces an object of unusual interest and tells something about it.

Facetious. any informative presentation or demonstration, as to introduce a new product or divulge and explain a special plan.

Origin of show and tell

First recorded in 1950–55

Related formsshow-and-tell, adjectiveshow-and-tell·er, noun

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

Examples from the Web for show-and-tell

Contemporary Examples of show-and-tell

My Cold War childhood was like an unending session of Soviet show-and-tell.
The Sickle of Plenty: “Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking”
Liesl Schillinger
September 13, 2013

Word Origin and History for show-and-tell

elementary school teaching tool, 1948, American English.

Idioms and Phrases with show-and-tell

show and tell

A public presentation or display, as in It was a terrible bore, what with their show and tell of every last detail about their trip around the world. This expression originated in the 1940s to describe a learning exercise for young children, in which each child in a group brings some object to show the others and talks about it.