demo

demo — noun

1. A shortened form of "demonstration" — a public event where people gather to show

1.nounB1
Definition

A shortened form of "demonstration" — a public event where people gather to show their opposition to or support for a political idea, person, or policy.

Example

Over ten thousand people attended the demo outside the parliament building.

The students held a peaceful demo to demand fair pay for teachers.

collocation: hold a demo

Common collocations
  • attend a demo
  • hold a demo
  • join a demo
  • anti-war demo
  • pro-democracy demo
Synonyms
  • protest

    broader term for any act of objection, not necessarily a group event

  • march

    specifically a group walking in an organized line

  • rally

    focuses on a gathering to hear speeches rather than walking

Common Mistakes

There was a big demo for the new phone at the mall.' (meaning a product event).
There was a big protest demo outside city hall.
Use political context words such as protest or march to make the political meaning clear.

2. An item offered at no charge so people can test it prior to buying the complete

2.nounB1
Definition

An item offered at no charge so people can test it prior to buying the complete edition, commonly used for computer programs and recorded music.

Example

Christopher downloaded a free demo to see if his computer could run the game.

collocation: free demo / demo of [product]

The band recorded a demo of their new song and sent it to several labels.

Common collocations
  • free demo
  • demo version
  • download a demo
  • demo track
  • demo recording
Synonyms
  • sample

    broader term for any small portion of something

  • trial

    emphasizes a test period, often with limited time or features

  • preview

    focuses on seeing or hearing something before the official release

Usage Note

The word demo can refer both to a time-limited trial version of a computer program and to a sample music recording intended to attract a record label or buyer.

Common Mistakes

I downloaded a demo of the movie.
I downloaded a trailer of the movie.
Demo is used for software and music, not for films; the correct term for a film preview is trailer.

3. An event where someone shows a group of people how to perform a task or how a pi

3.nounB1
Definition

An event where someone shows a group of people how to perform a task or how a piece of equipment works, often by going through each step as they explain it.

Example

The chef gave a live demo of how to make fresh pasta from scratch.

collocation: give a demo

Adina watched a cooking demo on television and tried the recipe herself the next day.

Common collocations
  • give a demo
  • live demo
  • watch a demo
  • cooking demo
  • science demo
Synonyms
  • demonstration

    the full-length formal equivalent of demo

  • show

    more general term for any visual presentation

  • presentation

    often more formal and may not include hands-on practice

demo — verb

demo — combining form

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words refer to public expressions of opinion, but they differ in shape and focus. A protest is the broadest term — any act showing objection, from signing a petition to blocking a road. A march is a protest where people walk in an organized line along a set route. A rally is a large gathering, typically featuring speeches, that stays in one place. Demonstration is the full-length formal word for any of these events; demo is its casual short form. For example: "Thousands joined the protest against the new law" could describe any type of action, while "The rally in the park featured speeches from community leaders" focuses on listening, not walking.

protest ↗march ↗rally ↗demonstration ↗

Common collocations

Prepositions

  • demo for [audience]
  • demo of [product]

Etymology

Greek (dēmos)Latin (demonstrare)English

The word demo is a shortening of demonstration, which entered English from Latin demonstratio (a pointing out), from demonstrare (to point out). The political-protest sense of demonstration arose in the 1830s, and the clipped form demo followed soon after. The product-sample sense emerged in the 1960s alongside the rise of computer software and promotional music recordings. The demo- combining form has a separate origin in ancient Greek dēmos (the people or population) and appears in words such as democracy, demographics, and epidemic.