sample

American  

[sam-puhl, sahm-] / ˈsæm pəl, ˈsɑm- /

noun

1. a small part of anything or one of a number, intended to show the quality, style, or nature of the whole; specimen.

2. Statistics. a subset of a population.

   to study a sample of the total population.

3. a sound of short duration, as a musical tone or a drumbeat, digitally stored in a synthesizer for playback.

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adjective

1. serving as a specimen.

   a sample piece of cloth.

verb (used with object)

sampled, sampling

1. to take a sample or samples of; test or judge by a sample.

sample British  

/ ˈsɑːmpəl /

noun

1. 1. a small part of anything, intended as representative of the whole; specimen

   2. ( as modifier )

      a sample bottle

2. Also called: sampling.  statistics

   1. a set of individuals or items selected from a population for analysis to yield estimates of, or to test hypotheses about, parameters of the whole population. A biased sample is one in which the items selected share some property which influences their distribution, while a random sample is devised to avoid any such interference so that its distribution is affected only by, and so can be held to represent, that of the whole population See also matched sample

   2. ( as modifier )

      sample distribution

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verb

1. (tr) to take a sample or samples of

2. music

   1. to take a short extract from (one record) and mix it into a different backing track

   2. to record (a sound) and feed it into a computerized synthesizer so that it can be reproduced at any pitch

sample Cultural  

1. In statistics, a group drawn from a larger population and used to estimate the characteristics of the whole population.

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Related Words

See example.

Discover More

Opinion polls use small groups of people, often selected at random, as a sample of the opinions of the general public.

Other Word Forms

• intersample
  noun
• missample
  verb
• resample
  verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of sample

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English word from Old French word essample. See example

Explanation

A sample is a small part of something that either represents a bigger whole or is designed to let you try something out. You might ask to try a sample of an exotic ice cream flavor before committing to buying a whole cone. Sample comes from the Old French essample, meaning "example." In social science experiments, researchers try to find a sample of people to study that is representative of the intended population as a whole. At the grocery store, you might be given a sample of peanut butter on a little cracker to entice you to buy it. In that case, you are given the chance to sample, or taste, the product.

Example Sentences

The analysis was carried out using the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite, known as SAM.

From Science Daily • Apr. 28, 2026

NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission was supposed to do that in the 2030s, but the mission grew too bloated and expensive.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

NASA's Perseverance rover has already collected a bunch of rocks for such a mission, called Mars Sample Return.

From Barron's • Apr. 21, 2026

When she finally got the job working on the Mars Sample Return Mission, she hoped to spend the rest of her career there.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2025

For instance: Mrs. Sample, the mender, had to sleep on her couch because her entire bedroom, almost up to the ceiling, was crammed with clothes to be mended.

From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau

Related Words

• case
• fragment
• pattern
• piece
• sampling
• specimen