demo
noun
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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:
Dailey explained the demo, and Cook paused in what Dailey described as a “terrifying” moment of thought.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
Considering I physically jumped out of my seat at one point playing the demo when avoiding the Alien, it's safe to say Creative Assembly will once again be ratcheting up the tension with the sequel.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
There was a demo track titled “Death of Me” and it just grabbed my attention.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Susanne Bieller, general secretary of the International Federation of Robotics, said humanoids with flashy skills that have impressed the public are often prototypes trained for a highly tailored demo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
“You know, still working on my music. Trying to finish this demo with Jon.”
From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson
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
Demo, a facility dog who's been trained for life on the carrier, walks the mess decks to help lift the crew's spirits.
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2024
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
So while sitting last month in Father Demo Square, in Manhattan’s West Village, Brookshire took advantage.
From New York Times ● Dec. 6, 2022
When the boy moved Demo approached the recess, leaned down.
From The Tarn of Eternity by Frank Tymon
Telis Demos is a writer for the Journal’s Heard on the Street column, covering banks and financial services.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 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
He also pledged that the Lib Demos would be a “constructive opposition”.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2024
“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
Virginia Demos, who teaches psychology at Harvard, recalls having long conversations with Tomkins during the 1988 Democratic National Convention.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Previous demos of world models, like the Genie models unveiled by Google DeepMind, focused on generating new worlds to train robots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
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
In 2025, it claimed, the defendants hacked into the mobile device of a producer who had collaborated with Grande and accessed unreleased masters, demos and footage from recording sessions.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 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
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
Grohl demoed more than 50 songs - typically in the middle of the night, many of them instrumental, touching on influences as diverse as Massive Attack, Pink Floyd and Bad Brains.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
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
The company demoed a text generator that can read long Word documents and write blog posts highlighting the most relevant points.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2023
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
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
That's what researchers demoing experimental tech at Warwick University's Festival of Innovation are hoping to find out.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 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
It was another trans person who asked me this question on a Wednesday in November, half a year after I started demoing.
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2023
Instead of selling foundation door to door or hosting awkward Tupperware parties in the suburbs, though, MLM reps are now demoing Younique foundation on Facebook Live and proffering leggings and tunic giveaways on Instagram.
From The Verge ● Sep. 13, 2017
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.
