demo
noun
demo
1 American
[dem-oh]
/ ˈdɛm oʊ /
noun
-
demos
plural
-
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.
-
He does flooring and demo for a living.
verb (used with object)
demoed,
demoing
-
to try out or exhibit the use of (a product, process, or the like).
You can demo the game without downloading or buying it.
-
to record (a song) to demonstrate the merits of the song or performer.
Demo
2
American
[dem-oh]
/ ˈdɛm oʊ /
noun
Informal.
-
Demos
plural
demo-
3
American
demo
1
British
/ ˈdɛməʊ /
noun
-
short for demonstration
-
-
a demonstration record or tape, used for audition purposes
-
a demonstration of a prototype system
-
-
short for demonstrator
demo-
2
British
combining form
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing demo
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Epic, which had rejected the earlier demo, signed Messrs. Scholz and Delp, and former Mother’s Milk guitarist Barry Goudreau was brought in along with bassist Fran Sheehan and drummer Sib Hashian.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
For some people closer to my age demo, maybe it was a little too much — their feet hurt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
And in a demo it definitely felt sleek and light.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
It was there that she persuaded DJ Michael Kamins to play the demo of Everybody, securing her first record deal.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
He’s inside and it’s all powered up because of the demo!
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
It received a Best Paper Honorable Mention recognition, while a demo of the research team's broader robotic feeding system received a Best Demo Award.
From Science Daily ● May 9, 2024
A nationwide campaign, known as the Flower Demo, was launched by activists to show solidarity with sexual assault survivors.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2023
Demo sessions began at Lanois’ makeshift studio in a converted movie theater in Oxnard, not far from Dylan’s home on Malibu’s Point Dume.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2023
The Dyson Demo VR has been built with the same visualisation and simulation technology used by the British firm’s engineers to prototype, test and develop new products and software.
From Reuters ● Nov. 19, 2021
Demo continued down one of the infinite paths.
From The Tarn of Eternity by Frank Tymon
This email was written by Telis Demos, a writer for Heard on the Street, The Wall Street Journal’s home for financial analysis and commentary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Demos, presentations and meetings will take place in a massive convention center as well as ballrooms and suites throughout the city.
From Barron's ● Jan. 3, 2026
“Undoubtedly, this scenario significantly impacts their mental well-being as well,” said Demos Antoniou, director of the Cyprus Third Age Observatory, a seniors-rights group.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 1, 2023
Demos recorded at that time got the attention of Steve Allen, who put her on his prime-time television variety show.
From New York Times ● Mar. 15, 2023
Virginia Demos, who teaches psychology at Harvard, recalls having long conversations with Tomkins during the 1988 Democratic National Convention.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
With its young band cutting demos on a four-track cassette recorder, “Nimrods” could have been set in 2026, 1996 or 1976 — phones and social media are practically nonexistent in the plot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
That leaves investors with a clearer path than the headlines suggest: own the platform for versality and flexibility, screen the suppliers for revenue, avoid paying up for the humanoid demos.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Summers asks Codex to build demos for the companies he is trying to sell it to, turning it into a marketing tool for itself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
While some games felt "like tech demos" according to Corey, others felt more substantial.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
This being a direct rather than a representative democracy, membership of the demos, or sovereign body, was by right rather than by election, and every decision was taken on a one-man, one-vote basis.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
When Musk returned to the stage a year later, he demoed a prototype called Bumblebee, with visible wires and actuators.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 3, 2026
One of the launch partners that was demoed during the DevDay keynote was Canva, the graphic design application.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2025
Both nominations recognise Now and Then, a song that John Lennon demoed in the 1970s, and which was finally completed by his surviving bandmates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr last year.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2025
Wright demoed the songs from the “Dream Weaver” LP on an array of then-novel electronic instruments, which he’d gotten interested in shortly before leaving Spooky Tooth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2023
In early October, Tesla demoed Optimus, its humanoid robot.
From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2022
At the Times Food Stage, Cassandra Peterson, known for her work as Elvira, will be demoing from her book “Elvira’s Cookbook From Hell.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
It got into trouble in 2024 for demoing a tool called Recall, which took snapshots of laptop desktops every few seconds, in order to help users locate content they’d seen but couldn’t remember where.
From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2025
In a third, Jonathan Shobrook, a fellow, was demoing his product, Adrenaline, a tool that lets you ask natural-language questions of your code base.
From New York Times ● May 31, 2023
In exchange for demoing, I'd get free unlimited yoga classes.
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2023
YouTuber Geek with Social Skills was demoing the game, and got a note that he should try inserting the game disk upside-down.
From The Verge ● Jul. 5, 2021
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
