sample
Americannoun
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a small part of anything or one of a number, intended to show the quality, style, or nature of the whole; specimen.
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Statistics. a subset of a population.
to study a sample of the total population.
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a sound of short duration, as a musical tone or a drumbeat, digitally stored in a synthesizer for playback.
adjective
verb (used with object)
noun
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a small part of anything, intended as representative of the whole; specimen
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( as modifier )
a sample bottle
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Also called: sampling. statistics
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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
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( as modifier )
sample distribution
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verb
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(tr) to take a sample or samples of
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music
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to take a short extract from (one record) and mix it into a different backing track
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to record (a sound) and feed it into a computerized synthesizer so that it can be reproduced at any pitch
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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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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samplesimple
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samplessimple
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have sampledperfect
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has sampledperfect
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am samplingprogressive
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are samplingprogressive
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is samplingprogressive
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have been samplingperfect progressive
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has been samplingperfect progressive
Past
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sampledsimple
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had sampledperfect
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was samplingprogressive
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were samplingprogressive
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had been samplingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing sample
Statistics and Probability - Middle School
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Scientific Investigation and Reasoning
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for September 4–September 10, 2021
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
SConnect said the ruling should only apply to the videos examined in the sample, but the judge declared that all Wolfoo videos should now be removed.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
If such pockets exist, future spacecraft could potentially detect or sample them more easily than the ocean far below.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
Our food columnist Adam Chandler crossed the Hudson to sample one of your top recommendations: the New Jersey sloppy joe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Further research also is needed on a bigger sample size to see how the study correlates to a broad population.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
I would very much like to increase my sample size, though.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
The samples also contained gold-to-copper ratios well above those measured in fertile mantle and primitive mid-ocean ridge basalts.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
On Sunday, lines of police officers were combing the ground near the car, a Citroen minivan with a Berlin number plate, in the search for clues and taking samples of material from the ground.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Layers of synthesizers bubble and brood; vocal samples drift in and out of tracks, flat and unsettling, alluding to God and human biology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Their blood samples also contained higher levels of proteins associated with healthy liver function and lower levels of proteins connected to inflammation and tissue scarring.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
Back at the table, I started with the five riverbank willow leaf samples.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
McFadden directly sampled the “Megamix” electro beat on “Storm,” from “The Audience’s Listening,” prefacing the drop with alien sonics before Edan and Mr. Lif deliver their rap verses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Carbonaceous chondrites account for only about five percent of meteorites sampled on Earth.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
Their comback album, Arirang, is a celebration of their roots - named after a traditional Korean folk song, which is sampled in the opening track Body to Body.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Anthropic sampled one million conversations of its own Claude chatbot in March and April and found that it displayed sycophantic behavior most often in conversations in which people sought relationship advice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
I sampled the cake to prolong the silence.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Like other Chinese products that were good enough and temptingly cheap, U.S. companies looking to cut costs are sampling their wares or are interested in getting permission to do so.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Miss Keeley said the Year Fours had been looking at environmental issues "in a global context" but the water sampling had "brought it home to Dedham".
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
One of the biggest challenges is sampling bias because animals actively guarding eggs are much easier to notice and photograph than species that provide no parental care.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
The first HBC generation will be available for customer sampling next year, and the second generation will follow in 2028.
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
They carried little silver knives and miniature trowels for sampling the cobblers and pies.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
