秀 is a versatile loanword from English 'show'. As a verb, it means to display or show off something — skills, possessions, relationships (秀恩爱 'show affection publicly'). It also retains the original Chinese meaning 'to put forth ears/flowers' for grain crops, though this is rare in everyday speech. The adjective senses ('elegant, excellent') are common in informal contexts, but this entry focuses on the verb usage. Note that 秀 also appears as a noun in compounds like 脱口秀 (talk show), but that's a separate part of speech.