showstopper
/ˈʃəʊstɒpə
/noun informal
1A song or other performance receiving prolonged applause from the audience: he wants every scene to be a showstopper...
- In the main arena, bare-back riding daredevil Lorenzo, the Flying Frenchman, proved to be a showstopper as he performed equestrian stunts with his grey geldings.
- The stage is then invaded by more children and the resulting musical number is a showstopper.
- Then there is the shy, self-effacing Chris, who electrifyingly takes over the stage, and, to my mind, sparks the whole proceedings with the showstopper, Old Fashioned Romance.
1.1Something that is striking or has great popular appeal: the brilliant orange flowers against the bronze-green foliage were a showstopper...
- For sheer showstopper appeal, check out its exclusive hat collection by milliner to the stars Philip Treacy in the Autograph boutique, with prices from £125.
- Over the years I had seen plants that were showstoppers; plants that made you examine them thoroughly; plants that made you find a book and read everything you could about them.
- Sheldon is a recognized birding site. Various species of mammals, amphibians and reptiles are common, and not the least of the show-stoppers is the American alligator.
2An obstacle to further progress: the subsidy limits proved to be a showstopper for other senior Democrats who refused to pass the bill with such restrictions...
- If, despite a low or nonexistent overhead, decent profits still manage to elude a microbusiness, that's not necessarily a showstopper.
- The conclusion of the review is that there are no potential "showstoppers" at this stage of the development plan.
- According to Pawelczyk, associate professor of kinesiology at Penn State, there are three major "showstoppers" that need to be addressed.
2.1 Computing A bug that needs to be fixed before a piece of software can be used or released: there were several last minute showstoppers that derailed the Beta 2 rollout...
- Testers have been told to expect several more release candidates over the next few weeks, but Microsoft is only looking for show stopper bugs and regressions from previous Windows releases.
- The initial excitement quickly turned to sensational headlines about a "showstopper" or critical bug that may put a damper on the Windows 7 excitement.
- When the beta testers can't find any more showstoppers or the developers can no longer face fixing them or the marketing team has booked loads of advertising, the developers create "release candidates".
Derivatives
showstopping
/ adjective ...- He claims there was ‘no sense of occasion’ and few musical highlights - despite show-stopping performances from pop legends U2, Sir Paul McCartney, Madonna and Robbie Williams.
- Kacey extends her vocal range to show-stopping effect by creating totally new vocal sounds - her emotive delivery even occasionally emulates birdcalls.
- In other words, the world's media were agog at her show-stopping performance and that ever-so-crucial use of the word ‘never’ when she spoke about the euro.