pass muster

1. Meet a required standard, as in That yard cleanup won't pass muster with Mom. This expression originally meant “to undergo a military review without censure,” muster referring to an assembling of troops for inspection or a similar purpose. [Late 1500s]

Example Sentences

The higher the targeted leverage, the greater the challenge for getting these funds to pass muster with the SEC, said Dave Nadig, president and head of research at ETF.com and co-author of book titled “A Comprehensive Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds.”

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Late Monday, Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian — who advises the government body on interpreting procedural rules — determined the proposal didn’t pass muster under the the Byrd Rule, which prevents the inclusion of provisions that are extraneous to the budget in a reconciliation bill.

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Mina concluded, “If this was the private sector, no way would this group pass muster.”

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Court of International Trade said that the president's emergency powers justification for the tariffs didn't pass muster, in a ruling issued on Wednesday.

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The government’s late-night race to expel these individuals, the court held, “surely does not pass muster” under the Constitution, failing to provide them with fair notice and an opportunity to contest their removal.

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