DictionaryAI

demonstrate

verb
DEM-uhn-strayt/ˈdɛmənstɹeɪt/

Formsdemonstrates, demonstrating, demonstrated

4 meanings of demonstrate

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive
    To show, display, or present something, or to prove it and make it evident.

    The numbers demonstrate a clear link between exercise and better mood.

    His calm reply demonstrated genuine confidence under pressure.

    Similarshow, prove, reveal, display, indicate

    Oppositedisprove, conceal, hide

    Note

    In this broad sense the subject is often evidence rather than a person. Questions about policy can demonstrate how thin a debate was. Two constructions carry it. One is a that-clause: what we are trying to demonstrate is that freight lines can be electrified cheaply. The other is the parenthetical as X demonstrated. When the showing is a formal chain of reasoning, the step-by-step proof meaning is the closer fit.

  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To show someone how something is used or operated, often step by step.

    The instructor demonstrated the machine before letting trainees try it.

    Engineers demonstrate each tool to new hires on their first day.

    Similarshow, explain, present

    Note

    Latin dēmonstrō meant "to show, point at," and this hands-on sense stays close to that pointing. It usually takes the thing shown as its object (demonstrate the new tools), but it can stand alone when context supplies it. As a narrator talks viewers through a massage, couples on screen simply demonstrate. Add for us or to someone to name the audience.

  3. 3
    verbintransitive
    To take part in a public protest, or to organize one.

    Workers demonstrate every spring to demand higher wages.

    Crowds demonstrated for days after the announcement.

    Similarprotest, march, rally, picket

    Note

    Here the verb takes no object: people demonstrate; they do not demonstrate something. What they oppose is introduced with against, as in demonstrating against the election results. It is the verb behind the noun demonstration in its public, political meaning, and it should not be confused with showing how a tool works, which is about putting a thing on display.

  4. 4
    verbtransitive
    To show the steps used to build a logical argument or work through an equation.

    She demonstrated the theorem using only three earlier results.

    Mathematicians demonstrate their conclusions through a careful sequence of logical steps.

    Similarprove, establish, show, derive

    Oppositedisprove, refute

Practice

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Origin

Borrowed from Latin dēmonstrātus, the past participle of dēmonstrō ("to show, point at"), formed with the verb-making suffix -ate. It is related to French démontrer.