cluster

/ˈklʌstər/

/ˈklʌstə/

Other forms: clusters; clustered; clustering

A cluster is a small group of people or things. When you and your friends huddle awkwardly around the snack table at a party, whispering and trying to muster enough nerve to hit the dance floor, you’ve formed a cluster.

Cluster comes to us from the Old English word clyster, meaning bunch. Nowadays, you can use cluster as either a noun or a verb. When we were kids, we would stand in a cluster (noun) on the street corner, eagerly awaiting the appearance of the Good Humor truck every afternoon. Then we would cluster (verb) eagerly around the driver, demanding ice cream. Virtually anything can form a cluster — flowers, cells, stars, human beings, and even events.

Definitions of cluster

1. noun

   a grouping of a number of similar things
   “a cluster of admirers”

   synonyms: bunch, clump, clustering

   examples:

   Northern Cross

   a cluster of 5 bright stars forming a cross in the constellation Cygnus

   Omega Centauri

   a global cluster in the constellation Centaurus

   Pleiades

   a star cluster in the constellation Taurus

   types:

   knot

   a tight cluster of people or things

   swad

   a bunch

   tuft, tussock

   a bunch of hair or feathers or growing grass

   wisp

   a small tuft or lock

   hexenbesen, staghead, witch broom, witches' broom

   an abnormal tufted growth of small branches on a tree or shrub caused by fungi or insects or other physiological disturbance

   coma

   (botany) a usually terminal tuft of bracts (as in the pineapple) or tuft of hairs (especially on certain seeds)

   type of:

   agglomeration

   a jumbled collection or mass
2. verb

   gather or cause to gather into a cluster
   synonyms: bunch, bunch up, bundle, clump

   types:

   agglomerate

   form into one cluster

   type of:

   form

   assume a form or shape
3. verb

   come together as in a cluster or flock
   synonyms: clump, constellate, flock

   types:

   huddle, huddle together

   crowd or draw together

   bunch, bunch together, bunch up

   form into a bunch

   type of:

   assemble, foregather, forgather, gather, meet

   collect in one place