Sampling

noun
1.
the act or process of selecting a sample for testing, analyzing, etc.
2.
the sample so selected.
noun
1.
a small part of anything or one of a number, intended to show the quality, style, or nature of the whole; specimen.
2.
Statistics. a subset of a population:
to study a sample of the total population.
3.
a sound of short duration, as a musical tone or a drumbeat, digitally stored in a synthesizer for playback.
adjective
4.
serving as a specimen:
a sample piece of cloth.
verb (used with object), sampled, sampling.
5.
to take a sample or samples of; test or judge by a sample.
noun
1.
the process of selecting a random sample
2.
a variant of sample (sense 2)
3.
the process of taking a short extract from (a record) and mixing it into a different backing track
4.
a process in which a continuous electrical signal is approximately represented by a series of discrete values, usually regularly spaced
noun
1.

a small part of anything, intended as representative of the whole; specimen
(as modifier): a sample bottle

2.
(statistics) Also called sampling

a set of individuals or items selected from a population for analysis to yield estimates of, or to test hypotheses about, parameters of the whole population. A biased sample is one in which the items selected share some property which influences their distribution, while a random sample is devised to avoid any such interference so that its distribution is affected only by, and so can be held to represent, that of the whole population See also matched sample
(as modifier): sample distribution

verb
3.
(transitive) to take a sample or samples of
4.
(music)

to take a short extract from (one record) and mix it into a different backing track
to record (a sound) and feed it into a computerized synthesizer so that it can be reproduced at any pitch

sample definition

In statistics, a group drawn from a larger population and used to estimate the characteristics of the whole population.

Note: Opinion polls use small groups of people, often selected at random, as a sample of the opinions of the general public.

DSP
The process of taking a sample of a signal at evenly spaced intervals of time. This is the first step in Digital Signal Processing.
(2001-06-06)