DEMONSTRATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does demonstration mean? 

• DEMONSTRATION (noun)
  The noun DEMONSTRATION has 5 senses:

1. a show or display; the act of presenting something to sight or view

2. a show of military force or preparedness

3. a public display of group feelings (usually of a political nature)

4. proof by a process of argument or a series of proposition proving an asserted conclusion

5. a visual presentation showing how something works

  Familiarity information: DEMONSTRATION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEMONSTRATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A show or display; the act of presenting something to sight or view

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

demonstration; presentation; presentment

Context example:

he gave the customer a demonstration

Hypernyms ("demonstration" is a kind of...):

show (the act of publicly exhibiting or entertaining)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "demonstration"):

exhibition (the act of exhibiting)

exposure (presentation to view in an open or public manner)

performance (the act of presenting a play or a piece of music or other entertainment)

lecture demonstration (presentation of an example of what the lecturer is discoursing about)

counterdemonstration (a demonstration held in opposition to another demonstration)

Derivation:

demonstrate (give an exhibition of to an interested audience)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A show of military force or preparedness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he confused the enemy with feints and demonstrations

Hypernyms ("demonstration" is a kind of...):

show (the act of publicly exhibiting or entertaining)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A public display of group feelings (usually of a political nature)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

demonstration; manifestation

Context example:

there were violent demonstrations against the war

Hypernyms ("demonstration" is a kind of...):

dissent; objection; protest (the act of protesting; a public (often organized) manifestation of dissent)

Domain category:

government; political science; politics (the study of government of states and other political units)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "demonstration"):

work-in (occasion when workers continue to work as a protest against e.g. proposed dismissal or closure of the factory)

protest march (occasion when you can express opposition by marching (usually on some government institution) without a license)

Instance hyponyms:

Boston Tea Party (demonstration (1773) by citizens of Boston who (disguised as Indians) raided three British ships in Boston harbor and dumped hundreds of chests of tea into the harbor; organized as a protest against taxes on tea)

Derivation:

demonstrate (march in protest; take part in a demonstration)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Proof by a process of argument or a series of proposition proving an asserted conclusion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

demonstration; monstrance

Hypernyms ("demonstration" is a kind of...):

proof (a formal series of statements showing that if one thing is true something else necessarily follows from it)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A visual presentation showing how something works

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

demo; demonstration

Context example:

the lecturer shot off a pistol as a demonstration of the startle response

Hypernyms ("demonstration" is a kind of...):

visual communication (communication that relies on vision)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "demonstration"):

display; show (something intended to communicate a particular impression)

expression; manifestation; reflection; reflexion (expression without words)

exemplification; illustration (showing by example)

Derivation:

demonstrate (give an exhibition of to an interested audience)

 Context examples 

Ikeega was overcome with joy, but he received her demonstrations in manlike fashion, saying: "Come, Ikeega, let us eat. And after that I shall sleep, for I am weary."

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

“And I promise I won’t use any more physical demonstrations. Get up now. You can sit on a chair.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The twins testified their joy by several inconvenient but innocent demonstrations.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"This is a clear demonstration of a unique mechanism by which biological communities can alter the environment, with fundamental consequences for carbon cycling," Schade said.

(Scientists discover new mechanism for how soils store carbon, National Science Foundation)

The demonstration unit is capable of producing 4 thousand cubic meters of biomethane per month and currently fuels 70 vehicles—a number that can rise up to a monthly 300.

(Biomethane rises as alternate source of energy in Brazil, Agência Brasil)

The results are the first demonstration that vision in marine invertebrates is highly sensitive to the amount of available oxygen in the water.

(Low ocean oxygen levels can blind sea creatures, National Science Foundation)

The device is believed to be the first demonstration of aerosol jet 3D printing to produce an implantable, stretchable sensing system for wireless monitoring.

(Stretchable wireless sensor could monitor healing of cerebral aneurysms, National Science Foundation)

Percy Phelps and his nurse looked at Holmes during this demonstration with surprise and a good deal of disappointment written upon their faces.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Seated in a corner like an interested student who observes the demonstration of his professor, I followed every step of that remarkable research.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Diagnosis is made by demonstration of typical intracellular Donovan bodies in crushed-tissue smears.

(Granuloma Inguinale, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)