showdown

[shoh-doun]

noun

1. the laying down of one's cards, face upward, in a card game, especially poker.

2. a conclusive settlement of an issue, difference, etc., in which all resources, power, or the like, are used; decisive confrontation.

   An international showdown was inevitable.

   Synonyms: clash, encounter, climax, crisis

showdown

/ ˈʃəʊˌdaʊn /

noun

1. informal,  an action that brings matters to a head or acts as a conclusion or point of decision

2. poker the exposing of the cards in the players' hands on the table at the end of the game

Word History and Origins

Origin of showdown¹

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; show + down ¹

Example Sentences

An away game in Athens against a Greece team who can no longer catch them, and then a Hampden showdown against Denmark next month lies in wait.

Read more on BBC

Men's winner Matt Cross, from Bourne, Lincolnshire, was crowned the overall World Conker Champion after beating women's victor Mags Blake, of Corby, in the ultimate showdown.

Read more on BBC

Though they would never admit it publicly, the executives in charge of baseball will be watching the Dodgers-Brewers showdown with diverging rooting interests.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

For the first time since the 2019 political showdown that hamstrung the National Basketball Association’s aspirations in China, both of the league’s biggest stars returned to the basketball-crazy nation to plug their shoe brands.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It’s a showdown that we observe over 14 months.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• clash 
• crisis