sample

[ sam-puhl, sahm- ]

/ ˈsæm pəl, ˈsɑm- /

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See synonyms for: sample / samples / sampling on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

Statistics. a subset of a population: to study a sample of the total population.

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

adjective

serving as a specimen: a sample piece of cloth.

verb (used with object), sam·pled, sam·pling.

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

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Origin of sample

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

synonym study for sample

1. See example.

OTHER WORDS FROM sample

in·ter·sam·ple, noun, adjective, verb (used with object), in·ter·sam·pled, in·ter·sam·pling.mis·sam·ple, verb, mis·sam·pled, mis·sam·pling.re·sam·ple, verb (used with object), re·sam·pled, re·sam·pling.

Words nearby sample

samp, sampaguita, Sampaio, sampan, samphire, sample, sample point, sampler, sample room, sample space, sampling

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use sample in a sentence

VERITAS might find the site of strange geochemistry, but without actually sampling the phosphine directly in the clouds, there wouldn’t be enough evidence to connect the two mysteries.
We need to go to Venus as soon as possible|Neel Patel|September 16, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Ty Cobb, the HRC Foundation’s senior director of Strategic Initiative and Research, who worked on the report, said the report’s data was obtained from a sample of 12,000 people who participated in a nationwide survey.
HRC examines hospital policies, impact of COVID on LGBTQ people|Lou Chibbaro Jr.|September 16, 2020|Washington Blade
Those two groups made up just 18 percent of the Dunedin sample.
‘The Origins of You’ explores how kids develop into their adult selves|Bruce Bower|September 16, 2020|Science News
The margin of error among the sample of registered voters is plus or minus four percentage points.
Post-ABC Wisconsin poll shows Biden holding narrow edge over Trump|Dan Balz, Emily Guskin|September 16, 2020|Washington Post

We’ll double our sample size next week and have even more to discuss.
We Knew A Football Team Would Win In Week 1. But Maybe Not ‘Football Team.’|Sara Ziegler (sara.ziegler@fivethirtyeight.com)|September 14, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
The astronomers found that of the 93 quasars in the sample, 19 exhibited a measurable amount of polarization.
The Black Hole Tango|Matthew R. Francis|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In West Africa at the present, an Ebola test can take four days or more and that is if the sample is not lost.
From Ebola Country to NYC’s Subways|Michael Daly|October 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sample reportedly told her “to drop the matter” and not discuss it with anybody else.
Speed Read: James Risen Indicts The War On Terror’s Costly Follies|William O’Connor|October 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Virginia is one of the 29 states that requires arrestees to submit a DNA sample to be entered into CODIS.
Stopping the Next Campus Kidnapper|Caitlin Dickson|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ever since Eve urged Adam to sample the forbidden fruit, men have been doing crazy things in the name of love.
Boy Shaves Stash, Gets the Girl: Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez Forever|Amy Zimmerman|August 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The fact was noted in my report and now his conduct out here has been fully up to sample.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
The sample examined should be the middle milk, or the entire quantity from one breast.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
The differences are here very remarkable, especially in the quantity of ammonia, which is exceedingly large in the first sample.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry|Thomas Anderson
Some of the seed was sent to the collector of Kaira, who forwarded a sample of the tobacco grown from it.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
The principle on which the value of any commercial sample is estimated is very simple.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry|Thomas Anderson

British Dictionary definitions for sample

sample

/ (ˈsɑːmpəl) /

noun

a small part of anything, intended as representative of the whole; specimen
(as modifier)a sample bottle

Also called: sampling statistics

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 populationSee also matched sample
(as modifier)sample distribution

verb

(tr) to take a sample or samples of

music

to take a short extract from (one record) and mix it into a different backing track
to record (a sound) and feed it into a computerized synthesizer so that it can be reproduced at any pitch

Word Origin for sample

C13: from Old French essample, from Latin exemplum example

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for sample

sample

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

notes for sample

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

sample

Origin of sample

synonym study for sample

OTHER WORDS FROM sample

Words nearby sample

Words related to sample

How to use sample in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sample

Word Origin for sample

Cultural definitions for sample

notes for sample