Search Result for "demonstration": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (5)

1. a show or display; the act of presenting something to sight or view;
- Example: "the presentation of new data"
- Example: "he gave the customer a demonstration"
[syn: presentation, presentment, demonstration]

2. a show of military force or preparedness;
- Example: "he confused the enemy with feints and demonstrations"

3. a public display of group feelings (usually of a political nature);
- Example: "there were violent demonstrations against the war"
[syn: demonstration, manifestation]

4. proof by a process of argument or a series of proposition proving an asserted conclusion;
[syn: demonstration, monstrance]

5. a visual presentation showing how something works;
- Example: "the lecture was accompanied by dramatic demonstrations"
- Example: "the lecturer shot off a pistol as a demonstration of the startle response"
[syn: demonstration, demo]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Demonstration \Dem`on*stra"tion\, n. [L. demonstratio: cf. F. d['e]monstration.] 1. The act of demonstrating; an exhibition; proof; especially, proof beyond the possibility of doubt; indubitable evidence, to the senses or reason. [1913 Webster] Those intervening ideas which serve to show the agreement of any two others are called "proofs;" and where agreement or disagreement is by this means plainly and clearly perceived, it is called demonstration. --Locke. [1913 Webster] 2. An expression, as of the feelings, by outward signs; a manifestation; a show. See also sense 7 for a more specific related meaning. [1913 Webster +PJC] Did your letters pierce the queen to any demonstration of grief? --Shak. [1913 Webster] Loyal demonstrations toward the prince. --Prescott. [1913 Webster] 3. (Anat.) The exhibition and explanation of a dissection or other anatomical preparation. [1913 Webster] 4. (Mil.) a decisive exhibition of force, or a movement indicating an attack. [1913 Webster] 5. (Logic) The act of proving by the syllogistic process, or the proof itself. [1913 Webster] 6. (Math.) A course of reasoning showing that a certain result is a necessary consequence of assumed premises; -- these premises being definitions, axioms, and previously established propositions. [1913 Webster] 7. a public gathering of people to express some sentiment or feelings by explicit means, such as picketing, parading, carrying signs or shouting, usually in favor of or opposed to some action of government or of a business. [PJC] 8. the act of showing how a certain device, machine or product operates, or how a procedure is performed; -- usually done for the purpose of inducing prospective customers to buy a product; as, a demonstration of the simple operation of a microwave oven. [PJC] Direct demonstration, or Positive demonstration, (Logic & Math.), one in which the correct conclusion is the immediate sequence of reasoning from axiomatic or established premises; -- opposed to Indirect demonstration, or Negative demonstration (called also reductio ad absurdum), in which the correct conclusion is an inference from the demonstration that any other hypothesis must be incorrect. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

demonstration n 1: a show or display; the act of presenting something to sight or view; "the presentation of new data"; "he gave the customer a demonstration" [syn: presentation, presentment, demonstration] 2: a show of military force or preparedness; "he confused the enemy with feints and demonstrations" 3: a public display of group feelings (usually of a political nature); "there were violent demonstrations against the war" [syn: demonstration, manifestation] 4: proof by a process of argument or a series of proposition proving an asserted conclusion [syn: demonstration, monstrance] 5: a visual presentation showing how something works; "the lecture was accompanied by dramatic demonstrations"; "the lecturer shot off a pistol as a demonstration of the startle response" [syn: demonstration, demo]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

211 Moby Thesaurus words for "demonstration": absolute indication, allegorization, alphabet, art, beef, bitch, blazon, blueprint, boycott, bravura, brilliancy, burden of proof, case, case in point, challenge, charactering, characterization, chart, choreography, citation, clarification, complaint, compunction, conclusive evidence, confirmation, conventional representation, cracking, cross reference, damning evidence, dance notation, daring, dash, decipherment, decoding, deduction, deductive reasoning, delineation, demo, demur, demurrer, demythologization, depiction, depictment, description, determination, diagram, discourse, discourse of reason, discursive reason, display, drama, dramatics, drawing, eclat, editing, elucidation, emblem, emendation, enactment, enlightenment, establishment, etalage, euhemerism, evidence, example, exception, exegesis, exemplar, exemplification, exhibit, exhibition, exhibitionism, explanation, explication, exponent, exposition, expostulation, exposure, expounding, false front, fanfaronade, figuration, figure, flair, flaunt, flaunting, flourish, grievance, grievance committee, hieroglyphic, histrionics, howl, iconography, ideogram, illumination, illustration, imagery, imaging, incontrovertible evidence, indication, indignation meeting, indisputable evidence, induction, inductive reasoning, instance, ironclad proof, item, kick, letter, light, limning, logical thought, logogram, logograph, manifestation, map, march, musical notation, nonviolent protest, notation, object lesson, objection, onus, onus probandi, opening, ostentation, pageant, pageantry, parade, particular, performance, philosophy, picketing, pictogram, picturization, plan, portraiture, portrayal, prefigurement, presentation, presentment, printing, production, projection, proof, protest, protest demonstration, protestation, qualm, quotation, rally, ratiocination, rationale, rationalism, rationality, rationalization, rationalizing, realization, reason, reasonableness, reasoning, reference, relevant instance, remonstrance, remonstration, rendering, rendition, representation, representative, retrospective, schema, score, script, scruple, settlement, sham, show, showing, showing-off, simplification, sit-in, solution, sophistry, specious reasoning, spectacle, splash, splurge, squawk, staginess, strike, substantiation, sure sign, sweet reason, syllabary, symbol, tablature, teach-in, testimony, theatrics, type, typical example, unfolding, unfoldment, unlocking, unmistakable sign, unveiling, varnishing day, vaunt, verification, vernissage, writing
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

DEMONSTRATION. Whatever is said or written to designate a thing or person. For example, a gift of so much money, with a fund particularly referred to for its payment, so that if the fund be not the testator's property at his death, the legacy will fail; this is called a demonstrative legacy. 4 Ves. 751; Lownd. Leg. 85; Swinb. 485. 2. A legacy given to James, who married my cousin, is demonstrative; these expressions present the idea of a demonstration; there are many James, but only one who married my cousin. Vide Ayl. Pand. 130; Dig. 12, 1, 6; Id. 35, 1, 34 Inst. 2, 20, 30. 3. By demonstration is also understood that proof which excludes all possibility of error; for example, mathematical deductions.