sample

American  

[sam-puhl, sahm-] / ˈsæm pəl, ˈsɑm- /

noun

• samples
  plural

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.

---

adjective

1. serving as a specimen.

   a sample piece of cloth.

verb (used with object)

• samples,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sampled,
  past participle,  past
• sampling
  present participle

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

---

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.

---

Synonym Usage

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• samples
  plural

Participles

• sampling
  present
• sampled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sample
  simple
• samples
  simple
• have sampled
  perfect
• has sampled
  perfect
• am sampling
  progressive
• are sampling
  progressive
• is sampling
  progressive
• have been sampling
  perfect progressive
• has been sampling
  perfect progressive

Past

• sampled
  simple
• had sampled
  perfect
• was sampling
  progressive
• were sampling
  progressive
• had been sampling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sample
  simple
• will have sampled
  perfect
• will be sampling
  progressive
• will have been sampling
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

sample samples sampled sampling

On the one hand, the reliance of high-income households on Social Security is very sensitive to the age of the sample.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

As planned, the Postal Service system would take a random sample of bulk mail ballots going to voters to make sure the envelopes all contained required information, including special bar codes tied to each voter.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

"We obtained pictures for more than 900 embryos from 39 snake and other limbless squamate species. That's a statistically robust sample."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026

Examining the pictures, volunteers said the only way to accurately identify people was through a DNA match -- which would require a family member to provide a sample.

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

Grace drilled Emma on a series of sample sentences.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

They also collected fecal samples to examine changes in the gut microbiome and measure concentrations of short-chain fatty acids.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026

Officials said DNA samples were taken from the bodies so that families could later claim them and perform traditional funeral rites.

From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026

After Mitchell offered samples of the tallow-cooked fries last year, diners started coming back for them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

Anyone who listens to this single on Cyrus’ 2017 album, “Younger Now,” can hear Parton’s bubbly voice behind that of her goddaughter, nestled between samples of phone messages the legend left for the pop songstress.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026

“Just samples of yarn and piles of graph paper.”

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

The song gained popularity when it was first released in 2008, but it became known worldwide in 2016 when Canadian rapper Drake sampled it on his chart-topping single One Dance.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Perry and her partner, Canada's former prime minister Justin Trudeau, sampled the delights of Mykonos.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

He also wrote Teddy Pendergrass’ “Love T.K.O.,” which was famously sampled in Ahmed Lewis’ 1994 nostalgic hip-hop single, “Back in the Day,” among others.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

When the war was won, the great boom in Coca-Cola’s international expansion began, fueled by a desire for the soft drink by people who had sampled it in far-flung places near the war-zone plants.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

But curious or hungry children of early farmers, nibbling wild plants around them, would eventually have sampled and noticed those nonbitter almond trees.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

With mortuaries overflowing in Nepal, authorities have begun burying hundreds of unidentified bodies after DNA sampling.

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

Burgoine said the Nature Commission and Guernsey Water were conducting environmental DNA sampling in the island's freshwater ponds and streams in a bid to gather more information as to where eels were present.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

She relied on the advantages of a modern orchestra rather than sampling the fashionable music-history approach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

Researchers must also navigate rapidly changing ethical standards surrounding destructive sampling of human remains.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

Meanwhile, the twins were in the candy aisle sampling their favorites.

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina

Related Words

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