sample

1. sample (noun) — sense 1

Definition: A part or snippet of something taken or presented for inspection, or shown as evidence of the quality of the whole; a specimen.

Example: a blood sample

2. sample (noun) — sense 2

Definition: A subset or portion of a population that is systematically selected for measurement, observation, or questioning, with the objective of generating statistical information that accurately reflects the characteristics of the entire population.

Example: Large samples are generally more reliable than small samples due to having less variability.

3. sample (noun) — sense 3

Definition: A small quantity of food for tasting, typically given away for free.

4. sample (verb) — sense 4

Definition: To take or to test a sample or samples of.

Example: They had just finished their breakfast, and the sight of the remains of it almost overpowered me. I could hardly keep my wits together in the presence of that food, but as I was not asked to sample it, I had to bear my trouble as best I could.

5. sample (verb) — sense 5

Definition: To reduce a continuous signal (such as a sound wave) to a discrete signal.

6. sample (verb) — sense 6

Definition: To reuse a portion of (an existing sound recording) in a new piece of music.

Example: To address this novel legal quandary, one legal treatise on copyright has developed the concept of fragmented literal similarity, a method of determining whether a sample-based work is substantially similar to the source it sampled. The name reflects the exactness of the similarity between the snippet of a track that is sampled and the sampled copy of that snippet.