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:
Much has been made about the box set’s inclusion of “Little Girl,” a previously lost Lennon demo.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 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
Dailey explained the demo, and Cook paused in what Dailey described as a “terrifying” moment of thought.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
Weizenbaum, who died in 2008, wrote Doctor as a convenient demo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
“Raske is the better demo man—” Inej began.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
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
So while sitting last month in Father Demo Square, in Manhattan’s West Village, Brookshire took advantage.
From New York Times ● Dec. 6, 2022
Slowly she turned back, eyes wide with fear as she glanced at Demo.
From The Tarn of Eternity by Frank Tymon
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
He also pledged that the Lib Demos would be a “constructive opposition”.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2024
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
From quick reels on how to fix cracks in walls, to complicated YouTube tutorials on building alcove seating from scratch, the internet is chock-a-block with seemingly endless home improvement demos.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 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
Much of the current humanoid hype reflects scripted demos, human-controlled teleoperation, or task-specific automation, rather than real general-purpose autonomy, they note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 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
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
Here are some of the key features of Apple Intelligence that The Times demoed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2024
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
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
Kaname Hayashi will be demoing Lovot, a chick-like bot with large expressive eyes, flapping arms, wheels, and a wardrobe of clothes to cover its soft shell.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2019
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.
