Word.ws English Dictionary

cluster

Syllables: clus·ter/ˈklʌstə/US/ˈklʌstɚ/

cluster noun: a bunch or group of several discrete items that are close to each other. Also the euphemistic form of clusterfuck.

Noun

cluster (plural clusters)

  1. A bunch or group of several discrete items that are close to each other.
    • a cluster of islands
    • A cluster of flowers grew in the pot.
    Synonyms:
    clump
    1. A group of galaxies, nebulae, or stars that appear to the naked eye to be near each other.
      • The Pleiades cluster contains seven bright stars.
      • My fellow biotic: You have been selected to receive this transmission because of our shared plight. Few understand us, fewer tolerate us. We must stand together. We must build our own new world. Come. Join us in the Hawking Eta cluster. Only as one body can we right the wrongs done to our kind.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City, Calif.: BioWare/Electronic Arts, →ISBN, PC, scene: Citadel
    2. (physical) An ensemble of bound atoms (especially of a metal) or molecules, intermediate in size between a molecule and a bulk solid.
    3. A group of computers that work together.
      • A computer cluster is a collection of two or more computers used to execute a given problem or section. Typically, in a computer cluster, the interconnection network tying the computers together is a local area network (LAN). […] The computers in the cluster communicate among themselves and among...2011, Fayez Gebali, “Parallel Computers”, in Algorithms and Parallel Computing (Wiley Series on Parallel Computing and Distributed Computing; 82), Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, section 3.7...
    4. A logical data storage unit containing one or more physical sectors (see block (noun)).
    5. A group of cases of the same disease occurring around the same place or time.
      • A leukemia cluster has developed in the town.
    6. Synonym of lexical bundle (“a sequence of two or more words that occur in a language with high frequency but are not idiomatic”).
      • examples of clusters would include in accordance with, so far, and the results of
    7. A set of bombs or mines released as part of the same blast.
    8. (US) In full oak leaf cluster: a small bronze or silver device shaped like a twig of oak leaves and acorns which is worn on a ribbon to indicate that the wearer has been conferred the same award or decoration before; an oakleaf.
    9. A secundal chord of three or more notes.
    10. A pronounceable group of consonants that occur together: a consonant cluster.
      • The word scrub begins with a cluster of three consonants.
    11. In cluster analysis: a subset of a population whose members are similar enough to each other and distinct from others as to be considered a separate group; also, such a grouping in a set of observed data that is statistically significant.
  2. A number of individuals (animals or people) collected in one place or grouped together; a crowd, a mob, a swarm.
    • VVe lou'd him, / But like Beaſts / And Covvardly Nobles, / Gaue vvay vnto your Cluſters, vvho did hoote / Him out o' th' Citty.c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • [T]hey all alight, and then they go to the ſecond gate, and if peraduenture they cannot get in, they ſit there vvithout, as Bees doe in the Sunne, all in a cluſter.1625, [Samuel] Purchas, “The Voyage of Sir Francis Alvarez [i.e., Francisco Álvares], a Portugall Priest, Made vnto the Court of Prete Ianni, the Great Christian Emperour of Ethio”, in Purchas His...

Verb

cluster (third-person singular simple present clusters, present participle clustering, simple past and past participle clustered)

  1. (transitive, chiefly passive voice) To collect (animals, people, objects, data points, etc) into clusters (noun sense 1).
    • The consciousness of such an action will give her features a nobler life on this illustrious day, than all the jewels that can hang in her hair or can be clustered in her bosom.1712 February 16 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “TUESDAY, February 6, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 294; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […]...
    • Not less the bee would range her cells, / The furzy prickle fire the dells, / The foxglove cluster dappled bells.1833–1834 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “The Two Voices”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 121
  2. (transitive, chiefly passive voice) To cover (with clusters); to scatter or strew in clusters (within); to distribute (objects) within such that they form clusters.
    • The sea is clustered with islands.
  3. (intransitive) To form a cluster or group; to assemble, to gather.
    • The children clustered around the puppy.
    • [T]he fruite cluſtereth togyther lyke to ſmal grapes, which in the beginning is greene, and afterwarde when it is ripe, al blacke.1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of Brionie”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London [actually Antwerp]: […] [Hendrik van der Loe for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC, page 380

Also used as

cluster is also the euphemistic form of clusterfuck.

cluster meaning in Hindi, Kannada, Nepali and Tagalog

cluster in Hindi

group of galaxies, nebulae, or stars that appear to the naked eye to be near each other
गुच्छ gucch

cluster in Kannada

ಕ್ಲಸ್ಟರ್

cluster in Nepali

क्लस्टर

cluster in Tagalog

bunch or group of several discrete items that are close to each other
kumpol
More languagesFewer languages
cluster in Arabic
عُنْقُود ʕunqūd, عُنْقُود نَجْمِيّ ʕunqūd najmiyy
cluster in Indonesian
gugus
cluster in Persian
خوشه xuše, خوشه ستارهای xuše setâre-'i
Kashmiri
ترٛوٛنٛگ trong

Examples of cluster in a sentence

  • VVoe is mee, for I am as when they haue gathered the ſummer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluſter to eate: my ſoule deſired the firſt ripe fruit.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Micah 7:1, column 1:
  • Fontanus ſavv five Vertebræ or VVhirle-bones of the Spina in a cluſter like a round ball, in the Body of a Porter that carried burthens.1662, Bartholinus [i.e., Thomas Bartholin], “Of the Back-bone and Its Vertebra’s in General”, in Nicholas Culpeper, Abdiah Cole, transl....
  • [A]ll the cluſter of Iſlands lying South of the Audeman [i.e., Andaman] Iſlands are called by our Seamen the Nicobar Iſlands.1697, William Dampier, chapter XVII, in A New Voyage Round the World. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, page 476:
  • Spread all thy Purple Cluſters, Tempting Vine, / And Thou, once Dreaded Foe, Bright Beauty, ſhine, […]1713, Edward Young, “Book I”, in A Poem on the Last Day, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Edward Whistler, →OCLC, page 16:

All 40 example sentences with cluster

Synonyms of cluster

All synonyms of cluster

Forms of cluster

Noun
pluralclusters
Verb
third-person singular presentclusters
present participleclustering
past participleclustered
pastclustered
second-person singular present (archaic)clusterest
second-person singular past (archaic)clusteredst
third-person singular present (archaic)clustereth

Past tense of cluster: clustered

Plural of cluster: clusters

Origin of cluster

The noun is derived from Middle English cluster (“bunch, cluster, spray; compact body or mass, ball”) [and other forms], from Old English cluster, clyster (“cluster, bunch, branch”), from Proto-Germanic *klas-, *klus- (“to clump, lump together”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up; to clench; to amass”)) + *-þrą (suffix forming nouns denoting an instrument or tool). The English word is probably a doublet of clot. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * Dutch klister (“cluster”) (dialectal) * Icelandic klasi (“cluster; bunch of grapes”) * Low German Kluuster (“cluster”) * Swedish kluster (“cluster”)

Words formed from cluster

Phrases with cluster

23 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with cluster

Questions about cluster

What does cluster mean?
Cluster means a bunch or group of several discrete items that are close to each other.
What is cluster in Hindi?
Cluster in Hindi is गुच्छ (gucch). See Cluster meaning in Hindi.
How do you use cluster in a sentence?
VVoe is mee, for I am as when they haue gathered the ſummer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluſter to eate: my ſoule deſired the firſt ripe fruit.
What part of speech is cluster?
Cluster can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce cluster?
Cluster is pronounced /ˈklʌstə/ (UK).
What is the plural of cluster?
The plural of cluster is clusters.

Words near cluster in the dictionary

  1. clusiids
  2. clusive
  3. clusivity
  4. clussies
  5. clussy
  6. cluster
  7. cluster A personality disorder
  8. cluster A personality disorders
  9. cluster analyses
  10. cluster analysis
  11. cluster B personality disorder

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cluster (page history and authors); cluster (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); cluster (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cluster.wav.

Cite this entry: “cluster.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cluster. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.