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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Related Words
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
- intersample noun
- missample verb
- resample verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of sample
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English word from Old French word essample. See example
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.
Water samples were taken at both entry and exit points.
From Science Daily
And then, natch, the judges must sample the concoction.
From Los Angeles Times
In addition to delivering detailed views of DNA structure, Pico-C requires only very small samples -- about ten times less material than standard techniques.
From Science Daily
After subjecting these molecules to conditions that mimic burial and geological transformation over millions of years, they compared the results with the ancient samples.
From Science Daily
A journey into the wilderness of 18th-century Canada starts with a tantalizing mineral sample brought back to an English outpost.
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.
