All 4 Uses of
specimen
in
The Gold-Bug
- His chief amusements were gunning and fishing, or sauntering along the beach and through the myrtles, in quest of shells or entomological specimens;—his collection of the latter might have been envied by a Swammerdamm.†
*specimens = examples regarded as typical of their class
- "But, my dear fellow, you are joking then," said I, "this is a very passable skull—indeed, I may say that it is a very excellent skull, according to the vulgar notions about such specimens of physiology—and your scarabæus must be the queerest scarabæus in the world if it resembles it.†
- All was gold of antique date and of great variety—French, Spanish, and German money, with a few English guineas, and some counters, of which we had never seen specimens before.†
- But be assured that the specimen before us appertains to the very simplest species of cryptograph.†
specimen = an example regarded as typical of its class
Definition:
an example thought to represent its type; or a bit of tissue, blood, or urine that is taken for diagnostic purposes