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.

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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

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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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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

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Etymology

Origin of sample

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

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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

Your unique code can be found on your mailed sample ballot and vote center postcard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

Anthony Cheetham and Ram Seshadri went through a random sample of the supposed new crystals.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

That is down from 158 commercials across 16 games three years ago, before a matchup in the sample migrated to streaming, according to the measurement firm iSpot.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

In the publication’s sample, Doubao was frequently more expensive, sometimes by as much as 80 yuan, or roughly $11.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

We each get to sample it just before she puts it in the refrigerator to chill.

From "Betty Before X" by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson

While house was music was based on samples, designed to call a dance floor together, techno was meant to be challenging, alien and fundamentally new.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

No longer just events where designers use trunks full of samples to sell preorders, many combine the instant gratification of off-the-rack shopping with exclusive locations—private homes, hotels, yachts—and free perks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

The bodies of those killed have been taken to the main forensics institute in Toledo, where families have been giving DNA samples to help identify them.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

"This is a first, modest-size study, and the associations with speech and clinical severity will need to be tested in larger independent samples before we can be confident in them," Wei said.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026

At four a.m., just before the DNA samples were collected, a large white tent was erected around the gravesite to ensure even further privacy.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

They scored a major underground hit with “Clear,” famously sampled by Missy Elliott and others.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

All the caviar we sampled looked pristine, but some roe tasted like a big ol’ gulp of the ocean, including two varieties from Imperia, a limited edition Petrusco offering, and Roe House’s Hackleback.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

Those profiles varied considerably between animals, while remaining comparatively stable when the same cats were sampled on different dates.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Saint-Maximin also sampled the highs as a resurgent Newcastle qualified for the Champions League in his final campaign on Tyneside in 2023.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

“I’ll have you know that Mr. Ice, as he referred to himself, sampled that track from the greatest band in the history of bipedal man.”

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

Individual polls do have a built-in margin of error – a statistical level of uncertainty based on the sampling size compared to the population as a whole.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

Because rain is expected this weekend, water sampling will begin Monday and continue as needed until results comply with state recreational water quality standards, the city said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

By analyzing connections at multiple scales rather than relying on a single sampling layer, the algorithm can account for shorter routes that previous approaches might overlook.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026

“The sampling of Vera Rubin is just going incredibly well,” Huang said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

This was a habit of his, perhaps because he worked with fruits and vegetables all day, randomly sampling them for freshness and flavor.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

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Related Words

• case
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• piece
• sampling
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