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:
The demo shown to journalists, covering the opening hour and a later section of the adventure, unfolded much as it did in the 1998 original.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
That sold for £2,400 and an early Oasis demo tape sold for £3,600.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Saul doesn’t have Dan’s ability to spot future talent, but he agrees to give the singer a listen if they cut a demo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Dailey explained the demo, and Cook paused in what Dailey described as a “terrifying” moment of thought.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
I wasn’t up for watching Buzz’s demo reel or hearing about the friendly-faced Buddha she needed for the Tibetan prayer room she was designing.
From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen
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
It was also the same year that the Flower Demo movement started.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 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
So while sitting last month in Father Demo Square, in Manhattan’s West Village, Brookshire took advantage.
From New York Times ● Dec. 6, 2022
And both Demo and the Countess laughed without restraint, and the pillars of Bursley society were mystified.
From The Card, a Story of Adventure in the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett
Telis Demos is a writer for The Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column, covering banking and finance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 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
The Flower Demos have become a symbol of defiance against silence.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 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
Like “The Blue Print,” “The Stranger in the House” is made up of demos and outtakes he created for his fantasy life as a working songwriter — possibly even in faraway Nashville.
From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2026
They toured the U.S., checked out product demos at sea and met with executives, ultimately picking HavocAI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Whereas most American robotics companies only show their products in obsessively stage-managed demos, at an Ultimate Bots fight, “failure is the show,” Bulatov says.
From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026
That material and the five other previously unheard tunes, as well as demos and remastered songs, form part of a new, posthumous album called The Shel Talmy Recordings.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 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
GoDaddy demoed the AI app builder, agentic workflows for core small and midsize customers, and Airo for WordPress professionals.
From Barron's ● Dec. 6, 2025
This is an enormous deal, and we know this because we just demoed it with Twitter, and it was 100 times worse than you thought it’d be.
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 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
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
They took their food processors on the road, demoing the quick work they could made of the labor-intensive, classical French techniques in style at the time.
From Salon ● Dec. 5, 2021
We even got a glimpse at what competitive play will look like in 2022 with an exhibition game of league pros demoing Overwatch 2 during halftime.
From The Verge ● Sep. 27, 2021
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