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• demo
  demo

  noun

  demonstration.
• Demo
  Demo

  noun

  a member of the Democratic Party; Democrat.
• demo-
  demo-

  a combining form occurring in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “people” (democratic ); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (demography ).

demo

¹ American  

[dem-oh] / ˈdɛm oʊ /

noun

demos plural

1. demonstration.

2. demonstrator.

3. a recording of a new song or of one performed by an unknown singer or singing group, distributed to disc jockeys, recording companies, etc., to demonstrate the merits of the song or performer.

4. demolition.

   He does flooring and demo for a living.

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verb (used with object)

demoed, demoing

1. to try out or exhibit the use of (a product, process, or the like).

   You can demo the game without downloading or buying it.

2. to record (a song) to demonstrate the merits of the song or performer.

Demo ² American  

[dem-oh] / ˈdɛm oʊ /

noun

Informal.

Demos plural

1. a member of the Democratic Party; Democrat.

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demo- ³ American  

1. a combining form occurring in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “people” (democratic ); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (demography ).

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demo ¹ British  

/ ˈdɛməʊ /

noun

1. short for demonstration

2. 1. a demonstration record or tape, used for audition purposes

   2. a demonstration of a prototype system

3. short for demonstrator

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demo- ² British  

combining form

1. indicating people or population

   demography

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Demos
  plural
• demos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of demo¹

1935–40; by shortening; see -o

Origin of Demo²

An Americanism dating back to 1785–95

Origin of demo-³

< Greek dēmo-, combining form of dêmos

Explanation

A demo is what you give to show how something works. You might give a demo of your fancy new espresso machine to your weekend guests, so they'll know how to use it. Demo is short for demonstrate or demonstration. It can be a verb, as when a tech company demos its new tablet or laptop. It's also a noun: "The demo of that software was pretty interesting." In the music industry, a demo is a practice version of a song, meant to show a record label or music venue what a performer's music sounds like. This meaning's been around since the 1960s, while earlier it meant "a political demonstration."

Example Sentences

The demo offered a glimpse of how future humans and machines could work together in the future.

From BBC • Jun. 17, 2026

McPeake noted that the company sold a $332,000 system to an unnamed “large financial institution” last year and conducted a live cybersecurity demo at a conference in March.

From Barron's • Jun. 15, 2026

Xcomm then caught the ear of current Ministry drummer Roy Mayorga, who would go on to produce the five-song 2024 demo “Westside Punks.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

In 1972, Dea became obsessed with Stewart after hearing him sing a trio of Motown hits on an old demo tape.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

“Go into demo mode on that Elucidator, sugar,” Hodge told Katherine.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

• album
• disk