musters

Noun

muster (plural musters)

1. An assemblage or display; a gathering, collection of people or things.
   • She seems to hear the Repetition of his Mens Names with Admiration; and waits only to answer him with as false a Muster of Lovers.1743, Richard Steele, Joseph Addison, The Lucubrations of Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq.
2. An assembling or review of troops, as for parade, verification of numbers, inspection, exercise, or introduction into service.
   • Come, let vs take a muster speedily: / Doomesday is neere; dye all, dye merrily.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
3. The sum total of an army when assembled for review and inspection; the whole number of effective men in an army.
   • Ye publish the musters of your own bands, and proclaim them to amount of thousands.[1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page)
4. (Australia, New Zealand) A roundup of livestock for inspection, branding, drenching, shearing etc.
   • McGuire took the two of them out to Kidman's Bore on the Sylvester River where about two dozen stockmen from different stations had gathered to tend the muster along the edge of the Simpson Desert.2006, John Gilfoyle, Bloody Jackaroos!, Boolarong Press
5. (obsolete) Something shown for imitation; a pattern.
   • And this is the more ſurprizing, as he [the Indian tailor] never meaſures you; he only aſks "maſter for muſter," as he terms it, that is, for a pattern1773, Edward Ives, A Voyage From England To India, London: Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly, page 52
6. (obsolete) A sample of goods.
   • The beasts they saw here were hogs and little dogs, and they found some hens; here also they found a muster of cloves, ginger, and cinnamon; though the cinnamon was not of the best: […]1770, Alexander Dalrymple, An Historical Collection of the Several Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean, page 48

See all 15 meanings of muster