Adjacent Words

Sample definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SAM'PLE, n. [L. exemplum.]
1. A specimen; a part of any thing presented for inspection or intended to be shown, as evidence of the quality of the whole; as a sample of cloth or of wheat. Goods are often purchased in market by samples.
I design this as a sample of what I hope more fully to discuss.
2. Example; instance.
SAM'PLE, v.t. To show something similar.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a small part of something intended as representative of the whole
2: items selected at random from a population and used to test hypotheses about the population [syn: sample distribution, sample, sampling]
3: all or part of a natural object that is collected and preserved as an example of its class v
1: take a sample of; "Try these new crackers"; "Sample the regional dishes" [syn: sample, try, try out, taste]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French sample, essample, from Latin exemplum — more at example Date: 15th century 1. a representative part or a single item from a larger whole or group especially when presented for inspection or shown as evidence of quality ; specimen 2. a finite part of a statistical population whose properties are studied to gain information about the whole 3. an excerpt from a musical recording that is used in another artist's recording Synonyms: see instance II. transitive verb (sampled; sampling) Date: 1767 1. to take a sample of or from; especially to judge the quality of by a sample ; test <sampled his output for defects> <sample a wine> 2. to use a segment of (another's musical recording) as part of one's own recording III. adjective Date: 1820 serving as an illustration or example <sample questions>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a small part or quantity intended to show what the whole is like. 2 a small amount of fabric, food, or other commodity, esp. given to a prospective customer. 3 a specimen, esp. one taken for scientific testing or analysis. 4 an illustrative or typical example. --v.tr. 1 take or give samples of. 2 try the qualities of. 3 get a representative experience of. Phrases and idioms: sample bag Austral. an (orig. free) bag of advertisers' samples. Etymology: ME f. AF assample, OF essample EXAMPLE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sample Sam"ple, n. [OE. sample, asaumple, OF. essample, example, fr. L. exemplum. See Example, and cf. Ensample, Sampler.] 1. Example; pattern. [Obs.] --Spenser. ``A sample to the youngest.'' --Shak. Thus he concludes, and every hardy knight His sample followed. --Fairfax. 2. A part of anything presented for inspection, or shown as evidence of the quality of the whole; a specimen; as, goods are often purchased by samples. I design this but for a sample of what I hope more fully to discuss. --Woodward. Syn: Specimen; example. See Specimen.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sample Sam"ple, v. t. 1. To make or show something similar to; to match. --Bp. Hall. 2. To take or to test a sample or samples of; as, to sample sugar, teas, wools, cloths.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(samples, sampling, sampled) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A sample of a substance or product is a small quantity of it that shows you what it is like. You'll receive samples of paint, curtains and upholstery... We're giving away 2000 free samples... They asked me to do some sample drawings. N-COUNT 2. A sample of a substance is a small amount of it that is examined and analysed scientifically. They took samples of my blood. ...urine samples. = specimen N-COUNT 3. A sample of people or things is a number of them chosen out of a larger group and then used in tests or used to provide information about the whole group. We based our analysis on a random sample of more than 200 males. N-COUNT 4. If you sample food or drink, you taste a small amount of it in order to find out if you like it. We sampled a selection of different bottled waters. = taste VERB: V n 5. If you sample a place or situation, you experience it for a short time in order to find out about it. ...the chance to sample a different way of life. = try VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Specimen, illustration, exemplification, instance. 2. Example, pattern, model. 3. Scantling, pattern, specimen.

Moby Thesaurus

adjunct, assay, barometer, bite, bring to test, canvass, case, case history, characteristic, component, conduct a poll, confirm, constituent, contingent, cross section, cut and try, detachment, detail, distinctive, distinguishing, division, dole, element, essay, example, exemplary, experience, experiment, feeler, fraction, fragment, give a try, give a tryout, have a go, illustration, illustrative, indication, individual, installment, item, little bite, little smack, make a survey, natural, naturalistic, nibble, normal, parcel, part, particular, percentage, piece, pilot balloon, play around with, poll, portion, practice upon, probe, prove, put to trial, quadrant, quarter, questionnaire, quintessential, quota, random sample, realistic, regular, remainder, representation, representational, representative, research, road-test, run a sample, sampler, sampling, savor, section, sector, segment, shake down, share, sign, sip, smack, sound, sounder, specimen, straw vote, subdivision, subgroup, subspecies, substantiate, sup, survey, swatch, taste, taste of, taster, test, trial, trial balloon, true to form, true to type, try, try it on, try out, typal, typic, typical, unit, usual, validate, verify, weather vane, weathercock