demo

¹ American  

[dem-oh] / ˈdɛm oʊ /

noun

plural

demos

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.

---

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.

plural

Demos

1. a member of the Democratic Party; Democrat.

---

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 ).

---

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

---

demo- ² British  

combining form

1. indicating people or population

   demography

---

Etymology

Origin of demo¹

1935–40; by shortening; -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

For the Apple team, the second demo was truly enthralling.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

At a UK demo of Alexa+, it responded, "actually, you can leave the brolly at home, with sunny skies and no rain in the forecast, you'll be sorted without it".

From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026

Last year, he said Tesla would aim to have a Roadster demo by the end of 2025, but that timeline was also pushed back.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 17, 2026

Hackathons and demo days are one way to make sure the team stays inspired.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026

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

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

• album
• disk