n.
- A portion, piece, or segment that is representative of a whole.
- An entity that is representative of a class; a specimen. See synonyms at example.
- Statistics. A set of elements drawn from and analyzed to estimate the characteristics of a population. Also called sampling.
- A usually digitized audio segment taken from an original recording and inserted, often repetitively, in a new recording.
- To take a sample of, especially to test or examine by a sample: the restaurant critic who must sample a little of everything.
- To use or incorporate (an audio segment of an original recording) in a new recording: a song that samples the bass line of a 1970s disco tune.
Serving as a representative or example: sample test questions; a sample piece of fabric.
[Partly Middle English (from Anglo-Norman) and partly short for Middle English ensample (from Anglo-Norman), both from Latin exemplum. See example.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
