demo

Pluraldemos

Formsdemos, demoing, demoed

1. 1
   nouncolloquialcountable

   A demonstration, or an explanation that shows something visually instead of only describing it.

   The science teacher did a demo with baking soda and vinegar to show the reaction.

   Engineers ran public demos of the driverless bus on a closed-off street.

   Similardemonstration, presentation, display

   Note

   A clipping that serves several words at once: here it shortens demonstration, but other words beginning demo- share the same four letters, so context decides whether a demo is a showing, an audience group or a teardown. In this showing sense it sits easily before another noun, as in a demo run, and you prepare, do or run one.

2. 2
   verbcolloquialtransitive

   To demonstrate something, especially by showing how it works or is used.

   The salesperson offered to demo the espresso machine before we bought it.

   Our team demoed the prototype for investors last Friday.

   Similardemonstrate, show, showcase, present

3. 3
   nouncolloquialcountable

   A recording of a song made to show its overall sound, in the hope of getting it published or recorded more fully.

   After hearing the band's three-song demo, the label offered them a week of studio time.

   The songwriter's demo, just piano and voice, convinced a pop star to record the track.

4. 4
   nouncolloquialcountable

   A version of a program with limited features, released to give users an idea of how it works.

   The studio put out a demo of the game three months before launch.

   The demo lets you edit photos but won't let you save them.

   Note

   Software publishers use it to offer a taste of the real thing before launch, and a game's demo may go public months ahead of the full release. The limits are deliberate, such as a photo editor that will not save, and the word often stands before version, as in a demo version. Unlike the hobbyist showpiece, this kind exists to sell the full program.

5. 5
   nouncolloquialcountable

   A political protest in the form of a march or gathering.

   Thousands of students joined the climate demo downtown.

   Police kept the two rival demos on opposite sides of the square.

   Similardemonstration, march

   Note

   Demonstration and march are the fuller words for this one. People join a demo, and it is held against someone or something: in Indra Sinha's Animal's People (2007), a character mocks the very man it targets by asking, "will you now join our demo against you?"

6. 6
   verbcolloquialtransitive

   To record a trial version of a song, usually one not meant to be sold commercially.

   Most songwriters demo their ideas at home on a laptop.

   Before going into the studio, they demoed about thirty songs and kept the best ten.

   Similarrecord

   Note

   The verb is clipped from demonstrate and keeps simple spellings: demos, demoing, demoed. Musicians take the songs as its object, as when a band demos thirty songs, and the point is a rough take to judge rather than a release; the songs that survive are recorded properly later.

7. 7
   verbcolloquialtransitive

   To tear down or rip out something, especially a house or a fixture.

   The new owners plan to demo the house and build something modern on the lot.

   We demoed the old tub ourselves to save on labor costs.

   Similardemolish, remove

   Oppositebuild, construct

   Note

   Here the clipping comes from demolish, not demonstrate, so demoed can mean showed how something works or tore it out, and only the object tells you which. Renovators demo a tub, a kitchen or a whole house, sometimes right down to the dirt.

8. 8
   nouncolloquialuncountable

   Demolition, especially the tearing down or ripping out done in construction and home renovation.

   Demo starts Monday, so the kitchen will be unusable for a week.

   The demo took two days, but the rebuild took three months.

   Similardemolition

   Oppositeconstruction

   Note

   Builders and renovators keep this one busy, often beside reno, its equally clipped partner. On a renovation the demo is the tearing-out stage, and it is often set against the rebuild: demo is the relatively fast and inexpensive part, while rebuilding takes the time and money. The same clipping works as the verb for tearing down.

9. 9
   nouncolloquialcountable

   A product that has been used for demonstrations and is then sold at a discount.

   The laptop was a demo, so it came with a few scratches and a lower price.

   The dealership is clearing out its demos before the new models arrive.

10. 10
    adjective

    Of a commercial product, set out for shoppers to try before buying, as a way to test their interest in the item.

    Shoppers lined up to try the demo headsets at the front of the store.

    A prankster had changed the wallpaper on every demo laptop in the store.

    Note

    It stands before the noun, as in demo products or a demo laptop, and is never compared: one item is not more demo than another. The unit set out for shoppers to try is the same one that may later go cheap as a discounted ex-display item, so the two senses follow one product from shelf to sale.

11. 11
    nouncolloquialcollectivecountable

    A demographic group, especially one that marketers or broadcasters aim to reach.

    The network cares less about total viewers than about how the show does in its target demo.

    Advertisers pay more for shows that are strong in the younger demos.

    Similardemographic

    Note

    Broadcasters and marketers made this sense their own. A show is judged by how it does in its target demo, and Nielsen demo ratings are how linear networks measure success. Hal Foster, writing in the London Review of Books in 2000, complained that the only question left was "does it work in the demo?" and paused to add that he meant demographics.

12. 12
    nouncolloquialcountable

    A non-interactive audiovisual computer program made by hobbyists to show off the capabilities of the machine it runs on.

    The winning demo squeezed real-time 3D scenes and a full soundtrack into a tiny file.

    The crowd cheered as each demo pushed the old home computers further than anyone thought possible.

    Note

    This is the art form of the demoscene: sceners bring their work to parties with competitions, dealers and a huge projection screen, and Amiga fans were reviewing demos effect by effect in the mid-1990s. The prize is technical, getting the most out of the machine. Future Crew's Second Reality was a very successful PC demo of 1993, and kkrieger put procedural textures to work before the game industry did.

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