sample

/ˈsæmpəl/

/ˈsɑmpəl/

Other forms: samples; sampling; sampled

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.

Definitions of sample

1. noun

   a small part of something intended as representative of the whole
   types:

   coupon

   a test sample of some substance

   cross section

   a sample meant to be representative of a whole population

   grab sample

   a single sample or measurement taken at a specific time or over as short a period as feasible

   random sample

   a sample grabbed at random

   tasting

   a small amount (especially of food or wine)

   type of:

   example, illustration, instance, representative

   an item of information that is typical of a class or group
2. noun

   all or part of a natural object that is collected and preserved as an example of its class
   types:

   specimen

   a bit of tissue or blood or urine that is taken for diagnostic purposes

   core

   a cylindrical sample of soil or rock obtained with a hollow drill

   cytologic specimen

   a specimen used for cytologic examination and diagnosis

   type of:

   natural object

   an object occurring naturally; not made by man
3. noun

   items selected at random from a population and used to test hypotheses about the population
   synonyms: sample distribution, sampling

   types:

   acceptance sampling

   a statistical procedure for accepting or rejecting a batch of merchandise or documents; involves determining the maximum number of defects discovered in a sample before the entire batch is rejected

   random sample

   a sample in which every element in the population has an equal chance of being selected

   proportional sample, representative sample, stratified sample

   the population is divided into strata and a random sample is taken from each stratum

   type of:

   distribution, statistical distribution

   (statistics) an arrangement of values of a variable showing their observed or theoretical frequency of occurrence
4. verb

   take a sample of
   “Sample the regional dishes”

   synonyms: taste, try, try out

   types:

   degust

   taste or savor to the fullest extent possible

   type of:

   consume, have, ingest, take, take in

   serve oneself to, or consume regularly