Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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}.

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.

Source : WordNet®

sample
     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},
         {sampling}]
     3: all or part of a natural object that is collected and
        preserved as an example of its class

sample
     v : take a sample of; "Try these new crackers"; "Sample the
         regional dishes" [syn: {try}, {try out}, {taste}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

sample
     
         The result of measuring the
        amplitude of an analog signal at a specified time.  In
        {digital signal processing} a sample is a signed or unsigned
        number and the number of samples per second is called the
        {sample rate}.
     
        (2001-06-06)