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taster

American  
[tey-ster] / ˈteɪ stər /

noun

  • tasters
    plural
  1. a person who tastes, especially one skilled in distinguishing the qualities of liquors, tea, etc., by the taste.

  2. a container for taking samples or tasting.

  3. a wide shallow cup, usually metal, for holding wine to be tasted, as by a professional taster.

  4. a person employed or ordered to taste the food and drink prepared for a king, dictator, etc., to ascertain the presence of poison.

  5. Genetics. a person able to taste phenylthiourea or some other test substance.


taster British  
/ ˈteɪstə /

noun

  1. a person who samples food or drink for quality

  2. any device used in tasting or sampling

  3. a person employed, esp formerly, to taste food and drink prepared for a king, etc, to test for poison

  4. a sample or preview of a product, experience, etc, intended to stimulate interest in the product, experience, etc, itself

    the single serves as a taster for the band's new album

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Etymology

Origin of taster

1350–1400; Middle English tastour < Anglo-French. See taste, -er 1

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:

A stunning average of 113.35 saw him level it at 1-1 with a 117 checkout and was a taster of what was to come in the sets that followed.

From BBC Jan. 2, 2026

Robert's advice to first-year students struggling to socialise is to just "get out of your room" and go to club and society taster events until you find one you enjoy.

From BBC Nov. 1, 2025

The 'Every Girl Moves' event was held at Les Quennevais School on Monday with about 15 sports clubs on site to give taster sessions to children.

From BBC Jul. 22, 2025

Kelly Tanner from Blackwood, Caerphilly, arranged for her nine-year old "football-mad" daughter Elen to have a taster session, before she then paid £300 for 10 sessions.

From BBC Nov. 20, 2024

Every place they stayed was first secured by the King’s Guard, and every meal they ate was first tasted by the King’s chief taster to ensure that the food was not poisoned.

From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo

Chief creative officer Rupert Majendie explained this could include incentives to production companies to encourage them to invest in pilots and tasters to help comedians make the next step.

From BBC Apr. 4, 2026

The fruit was described as "sweet and very delicious," while the wine impressed tasters with its "subtle Muscat aroma and smooth drinking quality."

From Science Daily Nov. 3, 2025

It’s then that Herrera reveals the percentage each vineyard contributed to the final blend, but only after inserting a past vintage of Red Stitch into the mix unbeknownst to the tasters.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 9, 2025

The minister, Francesco Lollobrigida, suggested in March establishing a task force of tasters to monitor quality standards in Italian restaurants around the world, to avoid chefs getting recipes wrong or using ingredients that aren't Italian.

From Reuters Nov. 25, 2023

Expert food tasters are taught a very specific vocabulary, which allows them to describe precisely their reactions to specific foods.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

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