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cluster

[kluhs-ter]
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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.Compare globular cluster, open cluster, stellar association.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to gather into a cluster or clusters.
  2. to furnish or cover with clusters.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to form a cluster or clusters: The people clustered around to watch.
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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

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8. group, gather, throng, crowd, bunch.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

chunkbatchcollectionbandbundleknotarrayclumpassemblagebunchflockgatherbodybevygatheringsetcoveyclutchcrewhunk

Examples from the Web for cluster

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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
  1. a number of things growing, fastened, or occurring close together
  2. a number of persons or things grouped together
  3. US 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
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verb
  1. to gather or be gathered in clusters
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Derived Formsclustered, adjectiveclusteringly, adverbclustery, adjective

Word Origin

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

n.

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

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v.

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper