cluster

[kluhs-ter]

noun

1. a number of things of the same kind, growing or held together; a bunch.

   a cluster of grapes.

2. a group of things or persons close together.

   There was a cluster of tourists at the gate.

3. U.S. Army.,  a small metal design placed on a ribbon representing an awarded medal to indicate that the same medal has been awarded again.

   oak-leaf cluster.

4. Phonetics.,  a succession of two or more contiguous consonants in an utterance, as the str- cluster of strap.

5. Astronomy.,  a group of neighboring stars, held together by mutual gravitation, that have essentially the same age and composition and thus supposedly a common origin.

verb (used with object)

1. to gather into a cluster or clusters.

2. to furnish or cover with clusters.

verb (used without object)

1. to form a cluster or clusters.

   The people clustered around to watch.

   Synonyms: bunch, crowd, throng, gather, group

cluster

/ ˈklʌstə /

noun

1. a number of things growing, fastened, or occurring close together

2. a number of persons or things grouped together

3. military a metal insignia worn on a medal ribbon to indicate a second award or a higher class of a decoration or order

4. military

   1. a group of bombs dropped in one stick, esp fragmentation and incendiary bombs

   2. the basic unit of mines used in laying a minefield

5. astronomy an aggregation of stars or galaxies moving together through space

6. a group of two or more consecutive vowels or consonants

7. statistics a naturally occurring subgroup of a population used in stratified sampling

8. chem

   1. a chemical compound or molecule containing groups of metal atoms joined by metal-to-metal bonds

   2. the group of linked metal atoms present

verb

1. to gather or be gathered in clusters

Other Word Forms

• clusteringly adverb
• clustery adjective
• clustered adjective
• intercluster adjective
• subcluster noun
• unclustered adjective
• unclustering adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cluster¹

before 900; Middle English; Old English cluster, clyster bunch; cognate with Low German kluster

Word History and Origins

Origin of cluster¹

Old English clyster; related to Low German Kluster; see _clod , _clot

Example Sentences

The hope is that the new method will save supercomputing clusters and AI models for the truly complicated quantum systems.

Read more on Science Daily

We sat on Air Mail’s back patio, surrounded by clusters of people reading, working on their laptops and talking among themselves.

Read more on MarketWatch

If it read enough poetry, eventually it would figure out that “sweet” and “sour” have related meanings—that their vectors are both in the “taste” cluster in vector space—while “because” and “fermented” do not.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

These taxpayers may be especially clustered in California’s Bay Area and the New York City metropolitan area, according to one analysis.

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Most funds cluster within a narrower range, making outcomes more predictable.

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Related Words

• array 
• assemblage 
• band 
• batch 
• bunch 
• bundle 
• chunk 
• clump 
• collection 
• knot