showdown

American  

[shoh-doun] / ˈʃoʊˌdaʊn /

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

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showdown British  

/ 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

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Etymology

Origin of showdown

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

Example Sentences

“Too many people are trying to turn a public disagreement into a grand showdown between the two. That is false,” Reinhardt said.

From Salon • Apr. 14, 2026

Platner’s tattoo, then, is a particularly charged showdown between vectors of progressivism headed in opposite directions—the old world and the new.

From Slate • Apr. 13, 2026

Details of the proposed showdown remain hazy, including whether the elder Trump brothers would fight together or separately, and where such an event might take place.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

For Netflix, the bigger prize could be the long-awaited showdown between Fury and Joshua - a fight years in the making but still one of the sport's most lucrative possibilities.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

More recently, in Zurich, three months before this Candidates showdown, they’d drawn once again, with Bobby coming in third, a point behind the first-place Tal.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

• clash
• crisis