demo

noun (1)

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\ ˈde-(ˌ)mō

plural demos

Definition of demo

(Entry 1 of 6)

1a : demonstration sense 1b

b British : demonstration sense 4

2a : an example of a product that is not yet ready to be sold a demo version of the software

b : a recording intended to show off a song or performer to a record producer

c : demonstrator sense a

demo

verb (1)

demoed also demo'd; demoing also demo'ing; demos

Definition of demo (Entry 2 of 6)

transitive verb

1 : to give a demonstration of (something, such as a product or procedure) : to show how (something) works, is prepared, or is done The chef demoed everything. His first demo was peeling a carrot.— Michael Ruhlman One dealer didn't even have demonstration software; the only thing he could demo was the power light. — Video Magazine

2 : to create a demo (see demo entry 1 sense 2b) recording of (a piece of music) … spent three months rehearsing and demoing songs for their third album …— David Fricke

3 : to use (something, such as a product) in order to test its quality or value : to try out (something) The surest way to pick exactly the right ski for your needs is to first narrow your choices to a workable number … and then go out and demo three or four pairs to make your final selection.— Bill Grout

demo

verb (2)

demoed also demo'd; demoing also demo'ing; demos

Definition of demo (Entry 3 of 6)

transitive verb

: demolish Brick salvaged from a demoed fireplace and backyard path make up the new stoop and walkway.— Natalie Rodriguez My mom put little masks on me and my brother, gave us goggles and crowbars, and we demo'd the walls.— Matt Damon

demo

noun (2)

plural demos

Definition of demo (Entry 4 of 6)

: demographic sense 2

Demo

noun (3)

\ ˈde-(ˌ)mō

plural Demos

Definition of Demo (Entry 5 of 6)

: democrat sense 2

demo-

combining form

variants: or before vowels dem-

Definition of demo- (Entry 6 of 6)

: people : populace : population demography demonym

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More About demo

Examples of demo in a Sentence

Noun (1) She will be showing a demo of the company's new alarm system. a demo version of the software I saw a demo on how to use the computer program. The salesman gave us a demo of the vacuum cleaner, and it seemed to work very well. They sent the demo to several record companies. She cut a demo last week. See More

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun In a demo, Spiegel showed that the drone activating and then hovering in the air with the tap of a button. — Michael Kan, PCMAG, 28 Apr. 2022 With viewership steadily declining across broadcast, the show still ranked as one of ABC’s top in the 18-49 demo in its 26th season, which starred leading man Clayton Echard. — Elizabeth Wagmeister, Variety, 27 Apr. 2022 The American Music Awards posted slight gains in both total viewers and adults 18-49 for ABC last fall, and the CMA Awards (also on ABC) edged up in the 18-49 demo but were down slightly in total viewers. — Rick Porter, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Apr. 2022 In a live demo, a player in North America on a Microsoft Xbox console, another in Europe on a PC and yet another on a cellphone in Indonesia raced each other in a Microsoft game that was running on Microsoft’s cloud. — Aaron Tilley, WSJ, 4 Feb. 2022 Vecna also comes with his own flying monkeys, of sorts — what the Duffer Brothers call demo-bats. — Nick Romano, EW.com, 18 Apr. 2022 At the tail end of his trip, a teenage singer, Price, pitched him on a demo session. — Randall Robertsstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2022 The airshow returns with a Category 1 aerobatic box, which allows for more of the fast, loud aircraft as well as the demo teams. — Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 15 Apr. 2022 Bublé was keen on the cover, and sent McCartney a demo recording and asked if McCartney could help out and produce the track for him. — Keith Caulfield, Billboard, 23 Mar. 2022 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb In a blog post on Monday, Meta said the store will let people demo various products and will include a VR space that lets customers try apps such as Beat Saber and Real VR Fishing. — Rachel Metz, CNN, 25 Apr. 2022 She was hired even before shooting began, which enabled her not only to demo themes for the directors but to visit the shooting location in the Dominican Republic last June. — Jon Burlingame, Variety, 25 Mar. 2022 Musk also said Tesla in 2017 would demo a Model S driving from NYC to LA with no driver interaction. — Yoni Heisler, BGR, 15 Feb. 2022 Jared Isaacman, the billionaire aerospace enthusiast who paid for the first tourist flight onboard SpaceX’s Dragon last year, is now paying for a series of missions, called Polaris, to demo new technologies for SpaceX. — Tim Fernholz, Quartz, 17 Feb. 2022 Developers and publishers from around the globe converge on downtown Los Angeles, welcoming media and gamers to demo new and upcoming releases. — Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2022 His wife, Lisa, encouraged him to demo it at DunDraCon, a role-playing convention near San Francisco. — Christopher Byrd, The New Yorker, 10 Dec. 2021 Short cutscenes from the campaign with Chief and a new AI that don’t demo any significant gameplay. — Paul Tassi, Forbes, 12 Oct. 2021 But Samsung used the display event to demo its Flex In & Out multi-foldable OLED display. — Chris Smith, BGR, 4 Sep. 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'demo.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of demo

Noun (1)

1904, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Verb (1)

1969, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

1994, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1980, in the meaning defined above

Noun (3)

1793, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for demo

Noun (1)

by shortening from demonstration or demonstrator

Verb (1)

verbal derivative of demo entry 1

Verb (2)

by shortening

Noun (2)

by shortening

Noun (3)

by shortening

Combining form

combining form from Greek dêmos "district, country, people, common people, political district in Attica," of uncertain origin

Note: Greek dêmos has traditionally been linked with Old Irish dám "guests, company, retinue," Old Welsh dauu, glossing Latin cliens (hence, presumably, "member of a retinue"), Modern Welsh daw, dawf "son-in-law." However, the semantic discrepancy between the two etyma is significant, and Celtic *dāmo-/*dāmā- has more recently been explained as going back to *dōmo-, a lengthened-grade adjectival derivative of Indo-European *dom-o-s, "house, household." The further traditional link with Indo-European *deh₂- "cut, divide" (whence Greek daíomai, daíesthai "to divide"; cf. tide entry 1), assuming a noun *deh₂-mos meaning originally "part, division," is still possible, though it would be deprived of any support beside Greek.