cluster

[kluhs-ter]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cluster ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a number of things of the same kind, growing or held together; a bunch: a cluster of grapes.

a group of things or persons close together: There was a cluster of tourists at the gate.

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.

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

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.Compare globular cluster, open cluster, stellar association.

verb (used with object)

to gather into a cluster or clusters.

to furnish or cover with clusters.

verb (used without object)

to form a cluster or clusters: The people clustered around to watch.

Origin of cluster

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

Related formsclus·ter·ing·ly, adverbclus·ter·y, adjectivein·ter·clus·ter, adjectivesub·clus·ter, nounun·clus·tered, adjectiveun·clus·ter·ing, adjective

Synonyms for cluster

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cluster ON THESAURUS.COM

8. group, gather, throng, crowd, bunch.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cluster

chunk, batch, collection, band, bundle, knot, array, clump, assemblage, bunch, flock, gather, body, bevy, gathering, set, covey, clutch, crew, hunk

Examples from the Web for cluster

Contemporary Examples of cluster

To his credit, Huckabee is conscious of the fact that he will need a cluster of deep-pocketed patrons and bundlers.
Can Huckabee Convert the GOP’s Moneymen?
Lloyd Green
January 4, 2015
Art Basel itself is but the center of a cluster of mega-shows taking place in Miami this week.
Sneer and Clothing in Miami: Inside The $3 Billion Woodstock of Contemporary Art
Jay Michaelson
December 6, 2014
But the crown itself (or headband or cluster of buds) screams disingenuous.
Flower Crowns Are Phony and Must Die
Sara Lieberman
September 5, 2014
There is now a black dot in a cluster of reeds about two hundred meters downstream.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq
Nathan Bradley Bethea
August 31, 2014
My millennial friends have waited in line beside a cluster of Orthodox women in long dark skirts to be seen by Peggy.
New York's Sexiest Kosher Corsets
Emily Shire
August 20, 2014

Historical Examples of cluster

But see the church in the hollow, and the folk who cluster in the churchyard!
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
Curious legends often cluster round these relics of ancient times.
English Villages
P. H. Ditchfield
Did they not, at their own church, cluster together like bees, when they saw me enter it?
Clarissa, Volume 3 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
He pointed down to a cluster of Lascars with white turbans on their heads.
The Harbor
Ernest Poole
Its cluster of snowy flowers suggested a corner of a royal garden.
L'Assommoir
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for cluster

cluster

noun

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

a number of persons or things grouped together

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

military

a group of bombs dropped in one stick, esp fragmentation and incendiary bombs
the basic unit of mines used in laying a minefield

astronomy an aggregation of stars or galaxies moving together through space

a group of two or more consecutive vowels or consonants

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

chem

a chemical compound or molecule containing groups of metal atoms joined by metal-to-metal bonds
the group of linked metal atoms present

verb

to gather or be gathered in clusters

Derived Formsclustered, adjectiveclusteringly, adverbclustery, adjective

Word Origin for cluster

Old English clyster; related to Low German Kluster; see clod, clot

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cluster

Old English clyster "cluster," probably from the same root as clot (n.). Of stars, from 1727. Cluster-bomb attested from 1967.

late 14c. (transitive), from cluster (n.). Intransitive sense from 1540s. Related: Clustered; clustering.