desc tablename;

#> mysql -u root -p
Enter password: 
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 14217
Server version: 5.0.51a-24+lenny1-log (Debian)

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql> use mysql
Reading table information for completion of table and column names
You can turn off this feature to get a quicker startup with -A

Database changed
mysql> desc user;
+-----------------------+-----------------------------------+------+-----+---------+-------+
| Field                 | Type                              | Null | Key | Default | Extra |
+-----------------------+-----------------------------------+------+-----+---------+-------+
| Host                  | char(60)                          | NO   | PRI |         |       | 
| User                  | char(16)                          | NO   | PRI |         |       | 
| Password              | varchar(41)                       | NO   |     |         |       | 
| Select_priv           | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Insert_priv           | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Update_priv           | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Delete_priv           | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Create_priv           | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Drop_priv             | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Reload_priv           | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Shutdown_priv         | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Process_priv          | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| File_priv             | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Grant_priv            | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| References_priv       | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Index_priv            | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Alter_priv            | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Show_db_priv          | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Super_priv            | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Create_tmp_table_priv | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Lock_tables_priv      | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Execute_priv          | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Repl_slave_priv       | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Repl_client_priv      | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Create_view_priv      | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Show_view_priv        | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Create_routine_priv   | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Alter_routine_priv    | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| Create_user_priv      | enum('N','Y')                     | NO   |     | N       |       | 
| ssl_type              | enum('','ANY','X509','SPECIFIED') | NO   |     |         |       | 
| ssl_cipher            | blob                              | NO   |     | NULL    |       | 
| x509_issuer           | blob                              | NO   |     | NULL    |       | 
| x509_subject          | blob                              | NO   |     | NULL    |       | 
| max_questions         | int(11) unsigned                  | NO   |     | 0       |       | 
| max_updates           | int(11) unsigned                  | NO   |     | 0       |       | 
| max_connections       | int(11) unsigned                  | NO   |     | 0       |       | 
| max_user_connections  | int(11) unsigned                  | NO   |     | 0       |       | 
+-----------------------+-----------------------------------+------+-----+---------+-------+
37 rows in set (0.00 sec)

mysql> quit
Bye