pass muster

Verb

pass muster (third-person singular simple present passes muster, present participle passing muster, simple past and past participle passed muster)

1. (idiomatic) To meet or exceed a particular standard.
   • To get a raise, an employee must pass muster with the boss.
   • Also passing muster were the loin of lamb in a zinfandel sauce and a variation on chicken marsala served with an avocado, tomato and cheese topping.1990 July, Pete Johnson, “A Taste of France in Huntington Beach”, in Orange Coast Magazine

   Synonyms:

   cut the mustard, cut it, hack it, make the grade, measure up

2. (idiomatic) To adequately pass a formal or informal inspection.
   • So while speaking directly to a celebrated stranger may not be possible without first passing muster with a squad of handlers and publicists, you can do the next best thing: dial the famous person's last listed phone number and talk to the lucky, star-dusted citizen who inherited it.1990 June, Max Carter, “Yoko Ono, Phone Home”, in Spy
   • In any event, the Texas law clearly passes muster under rational basis review, which doesn't presume to grade our citizens' moral judgments as if they were submitted as part of an undergraduate exam in moral philosophy.2005, Jeffrey Rosen, “Rosen, J., dissenting”, in Jack M. Balkin, editor, What Roe V. Wade Should Have Said: The Nation's Top Legal Experts Rewrite America's Most Controversial Decision, New York...