Meanings
samp1
plural samps
- UScountableuncountableAn article of food consisting of coarse ground maize, or a porridge made from it.
We remained in class until 12.45, and then had a lunch of samp, sour milk and beans, seldom meat.
1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 445 more examples
1675, The Captivity of Mary Rowlandson, included in The Portable North American Indian Reader, New York: Penguin Books, 1977, page 341, I asked him to give me a little of his Broth, or Water they [Horses feet] were boiling in; he took a dish, and gave me one spoonful of Samp, and bid me take as much of the Broth as I would.
The meal, coarse or fine, is then used for samps, mushes, or batters, and cakes, thick or thin, and of many varieties and degrees of wholesomeness.
1882, The Atlantic Monthly, volume 50, page 549'You kids have everything but you don't appreciate it. Mom must cook you beans and samps. Do you hear? Just beans and samps. That's all. Beans and samps.'
1975, Sheila Roberts, Outside Life's Feast: Short Stories, page 18Abigail taught her the use of the samp mortar. Samp was corn broken into coarse grains and boiled as porridge.
2004, Louise Cabral, A Pageant of Shadows, page 327In the area of cuisine, the Xhosa have contributed many corn recipes, most famously samp and beans (umngqusho).
2005, Fran Osseo-Asare, Food Culture in Sub-Saharan Africa, page 74
sAMP2
- abbreviationuncountableAbbreviation of adenylosuccinic acid.
Samp3
Origin
samp · noun
- Massachusettnasamp
- Englishsamp
From Massachusett nasamp, nasaump (“softened with water”); compare suppawn.
More words from Massachusett
Full word history & related roots →Samp · proper noun
- PolishSamp
- EnglishSamp
Borrowed from Polish Samp. It could also be a hypocoristic form of the personal name Samson.
More words from Polish
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
samp. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/samp
“samp.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/samp. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “samp,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/samp.
Source: samp on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.