From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishshowdownshow‧down /ˈʃəʊdaʊn $ ˈʃoʊ-/ noun [countable usually singular] ARGUEDECIDEa meeting, argument, fight etc that will settle a disagreement or competition that has continued for a long timeshowdown with a showdown with the striking workers Britain has a World Cup showdown with Australia next month.
Examples from the Corpus
showdown• Everyone in the office knew that there would be a showdown sooner or later, the way things were going.• I felt it was necessary to have a showdown.• A sequence of events since last spring made a showdown over these issues almost inevitable, analysts contend.• The Senate moved toward another showdown with the President over the budget.• Odd things have been happening to the Republicans in Congress since their disastrous showdown with the president over the budget.• Behind the scenes Pilger, still fuming from the Kennedy Hotel showdown, was working separately.• So you must expect one last showdown that's followed by a decisive step in a new direction.• What happened was the night before break started, Rudy and I had another one of our showdowns in his bed.• The showdown between Rosecrans and Bragg finally came in mid-September.• The showdown came when the Andover people helped impose a ban on prostitution. 