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:
It was only a demo, but the response was unlike anything she'd experienced.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Usually, the attendees—a mix of app developers, tech influencers and company employees—go wild for every demo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
In a video demo viewed by Barron’s this week, Sky walks a client through options for a certificate of deposit account that’s come due.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 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
The unveiling of the STM and the planned demo, scheduled to take place later this year, has ignited fervor across the globe.
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
He's not short of affection and Captain Hill says Demo has helped reduce some of the stress of being away for months on end.
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
Demo looked up at his mother, rolled over and pulled the blankets close.
From The Tarn of Eternity by Tymon, Frank
Telis Demos is a writer for Heard on the Street and is co-host of The Wall Street Journal’s Take on the Week, a weekly podcast about markets and finance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 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
Merope has helped the think tank Demos write a report which is calling on NHS England to urgently put in place Martha's rule.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 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
But Parks stuck with it, tirelessly promoting the sport via demos at hospitals, tennis clubs and even in car parks.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 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
When I was working on the demos, I was like “Let me try this 432 Hz thing” and I like how it feels for me personally, how I sing on the frequencies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
A number of demos in the keynote modeled people using Siri with Apple products in extended conversations, both via chat and voice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 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
AI companies, including OpenAI, Google and Meta, have demoed or shared their tools with movie and TV studios and directors.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 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
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
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
But at the same time, you’re demoing things in actual products, like translation, that are real for people or could be real today.
From The Verge ● May 13, 2022
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.
