sample
/ˈsɑːmp(ə)l
/noun
1A small part or quantity intended to show what the whole is like: investigations involved analysing samples of handwriting...
- I think of leading him up to the scene after the battle, with his sample swatches of alternative flag materials, and pointing to the flag.
- The company is now producing the Manitoba chip in sample quantities.
- Many silage pits have been sampled, with the samples analysed to establish silage quality.
Synonyms
representative, illustrative, selected, specimen, test, trial, typifying, typical
1.1A small amount of a food or other commodity, especially one given to a prospective customer: samples of products for evaluation a free sample of chewing gum...
- These representatives of companies travelled round the country displaying samples to prospective customers and taking orders.
- In a now-famous experiment, recounted in Schwartz's book, researchers set up a table at a specialty food store, offering samples of jam.
- A battle is raging for the hearts and wallets of new mothers as two companies compete to distribute free samples of baby products in the country's biggest hospitals.
1.2A specimen taken for scientific testing or analysis: a urine sample...
- If your doctor thinks you have a bladder infection, he or she will test a sample of your urine to find out if there are bacteria in it.
- Laboratory workers unaware of the disease status of the participants analysed blood samples for C pneumoniae using whole organism antigen and time resolved fluorimetry.
- The cross sections of the samples are analyzed, and the pigments are identified under a polarizing or scanning electron microscope.
Synonyms
specimen, example, bit, snippet, illustration, demonstration, exemplification, instance, selection, representative piece;
model, prototype, pattern, dummy, swatch, test piece, pilot, trailer, trial, indication, foretaste, taste, taster, tester, smear
archaic scantling
1.3 Statistics A portion drawn from a population, the study of which is intended to lead to statistical estimates of the attributes of the whole population: they shared these characteristics with other women in the sample a simple random sample of forty-five students...
- To study a distribution, take random samples from a population and analyze them.
- Fifteen studies examined total populations or random samples of such populations.
- Five trials either did not report a clear calculation of sample size or failed to achieve the intended sample size.
Synonyms
cross section, variety, sampling, test
2A sound or piece of music created by sampling: piano samples...
- Bringing together and shaping a disparate collection of vocal and musical samples he creates a rich cultural portrait that succeeds both conceptually and aesthetically.
- Their debut, Vegas, emulated the ‘big beat’ sound by pasting hip hop samples and rock riffs atop break beats.
- The Prefuse recipe calls for chunky breakbeats generously peppered with piano, vocals, video game samples and other left-field sounds.
verb [with object]
1Take a sample or samples of (something) for analysis: bone marrow cells were sampled...
- Households with telephones were sampled randomly, with a probability proportional to the size of the HSA in which they resided.
- The randomly sampled subcohort also allows for unbiased analysis of other outcomes, e.g., sensitization, by comparing affected and nonaffected children in the subcohort.
- There was quite clearly a situation where the urine was sampled and analysed in the first instance.
1.1Try the qualities of (food or drink) by tasting it: it is a chance to sample probably the widest range of wines ever assembled...
- The Food Fight offers a chance to sample food and drink prepared by more than 45 restaurants and beverage suppliers.
- If you have room left over for dessert, you can sample the Honey Cake, which comes with fresh strawberries.
- Of course we found an Irish pub before leaving and we sampled the food and drink on our last night after a hard week's work.
Synonyms
try out, try, taste, sip, nibble, test, put to the test, dip into, experiment with, experience, inspect, examine, check out, appraise, evaluate
1.2Get a representative experience of: sample some entertaining nights out in Liverpool...
- Today, about 10,000 people a year visit from around the world to sample the Esalen Experience.
- It seems like you're already sampling the simpler pleasures of our island life.
- Marbella, with its magnificent boutiques, extraordinary yachts and flashy patrons is best sampled by night.
2 Electronics Ascertain the momentary value of (an analogue signal) many times a second so as to convert the signal to digital form: the input signal must be sampled at twice its highest frequency...
- All signals were sampled at 200 Hz, except for the electrocardiograph signal, which was sampled at 1,000 Hz.
- Coronary flow velocity signals were sampled at a preselected fixed distance of 5.2 mm from the device tip to minimize turbulence caused by the presence of the measuring device.
- The pressure signal was sampled at 100 Hz from a battery-run pressure transducer and passed through an electronic filter before being recorded by computer.
2.1Record or extract (a small piece of music or sound) digitally for reuse as part of a composition or song: riffs sampled from other musicians (as noun sampling) sampling is bringing older music to younger ears...
- In this latest version of the SFO, twelve women played electric guitars and five sampled the sound of the guitars and transformed it on laptops.
- Throughout the nine variations of ‘Guero’ here, his pieces are cut-up, sampled and spliced into downtempo minimalist techno.
- As a teen he became even more inquisitive, sampling everything from Jimi Hendrix's psychedelic blues to grunge gods Nirvana and even early punk via Iggy and the Stooges.
Origin
Middle English (as a noun): from an Anglo-Norman French variant of Old French essample 'example'. Current senses of the verb date from the mid 18th century.
example from Late Middle English:
Example goes back to Latin exemplum ‘sample, imitation’, from eximere ‘take out’. Sample (Middle English) comes from the same root via French.