sam•ple
Pronunciation: (sam'pul, säm'-), [key]
— n., adj., v., -pled, -pling.
—n.
- a small part of anything or one of a number, intended to show the quality, style, or nature of the whole; specimen.
- a subset of a population: to study a sample of the total population.
- a sound of short duration, as a musical tone or a drumbeat, digitally stored in a synthesizer for playback.
—adj.
- serving as a specimen: a sample piece of cloth.
—v.t.
- to take a sample or samples of; test or judge by a sample.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.