cluster: Meaning and Definition of

clus•ter

Pronunciation: (klus'tur), [key]
— n.
  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. 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. a succession of two or more contiguous consonants in an utterance, as the str- cluster of strap.
  5. a group of neighboring stars, held together by mutual gravitation, that have essentially the same age and composition and thus supposedly a common origin. Cf. globular cluster, open cluster, stellar association.
—v.t.
  1. to gather into a cluster or clusters.
  2. to furnish or cover with clusters.
—v.i.
  1. to form a cluster or clusters: The people clustered around to watch.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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