sampler

A small selection that shows the different kinds available in a larger collection.

• We ordered a dessert sampler.
• This booklet is a sampler of her poems.
• Try our cheese sampler before choosing your favourite.

How to use it: a sampler of something (The album offers a sampler of local music.)

Similar words: selection, assortment

Common phrases: a chocolate sampler, a sampler of something, a dessert sampler

A machine or tool that collects or records small amounts of something for testing or later use.

• The sampler collects water every hour.
• We used a soil sampler in the field.
• She recorded a short sound with her digital sampler.

Common phrases: an automatic sampler, a digital sampler, a soil sampler

A piece of cloth showing different sewn designs, often made to practise or display sewing skills.

• She stitched a sampler.
• The sampler shows flowers and letters in red thread.
• An old sampler hangs above the fireplace.

Common phrases: an embroidered sampler, stitch a sampler

Someone whose job is to collect small amounts of something for testing.

• The sampler collected some water.
• A sampler checked the grain before it entered the factory.
• The company employs two samplers to collect soil for testing.

Common phrases: a water sampler, a trained sampler