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The Collaborative International Dictionary
To put in an appearance

Appearance \Ap*pear"ance\, n. [F. apparence, L. apparentia, fr. apparere. See Appear.]

  1. The act of appearing or coming into sight; the act of becoming visible to the eye; as, his sudden appearance surprised me.

  2. A thing seed; a phenomenon; a phase; an apparition; as, an appearance in the sky.

  3. Personal presence; exhibition of the person; look; aspect; mien.

    And now am come to see . . . It thy appearance answer loud report.
    --Milton.

  4. Semblance, or apparent likeness; external show. pl. Outward signs, or circumstances, fitted to make a particular impression or to determine the judgment as to the character of a person or a thing, an act or a state; as, appearances are against him.

    There was upon the tabernacle, as it were, the appearance of fire.
    --Num. ix. 1

  5. For man looketh on the outward appearance.
    --1 Sam. xvi. 7.

    Judge not according to the appearance.
    --John. vii. 24.

    5. The act of appearing in a particular place, or in society, a company, or any proceedings; a coming before the public in a particular character; as, a person makes his appearance as an historian, an artist, or an orator.

    Will he now retire, After appearance, and again prolong Our expectation?
    --Milton.

  6. Probability; likelihood. [Obs.]

    There is that which hath no appearance.
    --Bacon.

  7. (Law) The coming into court of either of the parties; the being present in court; the coming into court of a party summoned in an action, either by himself or by his attorney, expressed by a formal entry by the proper officer to that effect; the act or proceeding by which a party proceeded against places himself before the court, and submits to its jurisdiction.
    --Burrill.
    --Bouvier.
    --Daniell.

    To put in an appearance, to be present; to appear in person.

    To save appearances, to preserve a fair outward show.

    Syn: Coming; arrival; presence; semblance; pretense; air; look; manner; mien; figure; aspect.

Usage examples of "to put in an appearance".

She waited impatiently for him to put in an appearance and disrupt her work.

I fancy that he suspected something when Drebber failed to put in an appearance.

Only when the sun threatened to put in an appearance did they return to the dinghy for the long ride back out to the reef.

Gregg was supposed to put in an appearance, so the rooms were packed with New York delegates and their families.

And if there were other relatives, they hadn't bothered to put in an appearance.

As for the devil hinted at as the author of Dorian's perpetual youth and his portrait's transformation, he notably fails to put in an appearance or give the least sign of his existence.

If two of us are together the ghost, or whatever human being poses as the ghost, will not dare to put in an appearance.