Demoing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To present or showcase a product, especially to highlight its features and benefits
2. to run a demonstration of a software or application for others to observe
3. to perform a version of something to illustrate its use or functionality

Etymology: "Demoing" is an inflected form of the verb "demo", so its history is that of the base word. "Demo" is a clipping, a shortening of longer words, and the source names three candidates: "demonstration", the family of words beginning with "demo-", and "demonstrate" itself. Clipped forms like this are common in English, where a long word is trimmed to its first syllables for speed and familiarity. The verb sense, showing a product or demonstrating how something works, follows the same pattern. Someone who "demos" a piece of software or a gadget is doing the same thing as someone who demonstrates it, just in a shorter, more casual word. The clipped form carries the commercial sense of a sales pitch or a trial, and it is that sense the present participle "demoing" now expresses.

Synonyms: demonstrating, showing, presenting

Antonyms: concealing, hiding