COMMON If someone stops the show, they give an extremely impressive performance in a show or other event. Twelve-year-old Reggie Jackson stopped the show last night with `America the Beautiful'. Note: You can describe an impressive person, performance, or thing as show-stopping or say that they are a show-stopper. She got a standing ovation for her show-stopping number `And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going'. Her first encore was a real show-stopper.