1. an activity for young children, especially in school, in which each participant produces an object of unusual interest and tells something about it.
2. Facetious. any informative presentation or demonstration, as to introduce a new product or divulge and explain a special plan.
Related forms
show-and-tell, adjective
show-and-teller, noun
Word Origin and History for show-and-tell
n. elementary school teaching tool, 1948, American English.
Slang definitions & phrases for show-and-tell
show-and-tell
noun An elaborate display, usually for selling or other persuasion; dog and pony act: There just hasn't been time to arrange the kind of show-and-tell that attracts media attention/ No one seems to have been impressed by the show-and-tell
[1970s+; fr the name of an elementary-school teaching technique of the late 1940s where pupils exhibit and explain things]
show-and-tell in Technology
A visual dataflow language designed for use by elementary school children.
["A Visual Language for Keyboardless Programming", T. Kimura et al, TR WUCS-86-6, CS Dept Washington U, Mar 1986].
["Show and Tell: A Visual Language", T.D. Kimura et al in Visual Programming Environments: Paradigms and Systems, E.P. Glinert ed, IEEE Comp Sci Press, 1990, pp. 397-404].
(1995-01-31)
Idioms and Phrases with 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.