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# specimen

noun (a specimen, specimens)

«specimen» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A specimen is one example of a plant, animal, rock or other thing that is collected and studied, for example in a museum or lab. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/specimen/#m1)
2. A specimen is a small amount of blood, urine or other body matter that a doctor tests. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/specimen/#m2)
3. (informal, joking) A «fine specimen» is a good or funny example of a person or animal. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/specimen/#m3)

### In the lessons

In science lessons specimens are collected, labelled, measured and looked at under a microscope; museums keep specimens of fossils, insects and birds. In health it is a sample a doctor tests. Phrases: a specimen jar, a rock specimen, collect specimens, a fine specimen.

### Examples

- We collected leaf specimens for our science project. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/specimen/#x1)
- The museum has a specimen of a giant beetle. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/specimen/#x2)
- The nurse asked for a urine specimen. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/specimen/#x3)
- Look at the specimen under the microscope. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/specimen/#x4)
- That dinosaur bone is a rare specimen. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/specimen/#x5)
- Each rock specimen was labelled with its name and where it was found. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/specimen/#x6)
- What a fine specimen of a pumpkin! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/specimen/#x7)
- I should have liked to preserve a specimen. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/specimen/#x8)

### Note

Plural: specimens. Stress on the first syllable: SPEH-si-men. «Specimen» and «sample» are close; a sample is usually a small part taken from something bigger. In maths problems: «each box holds 12 specimens» — count them like other objects.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «specimen» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/specimen/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«specimen» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/specimen.html) on Mova free.