taster

[tey-ster]

noun

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

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• pretaster noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of taster¹

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

Example Sentences

"I know what to expect with the audience... it was a bit of a taster run."

From BBC

Dunn explained that early evidence has repeatedly shown that there are different populations of so-called “sour tasters.”

From Salon

"The Telegram account was, for lack of a better term, a taster pack - essentially a collage of the material he had available of all the different victims," explained Lloyd Richardson, the CCCP's director of technology.

From BBC

A pea taster, she samples about 32 plates of peas on a daily basis during the season.

From BBC

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

Related Words

• bowl 
• drink 
• mug