cluster
/ˈklʌstə
/noun
1A group of similar things or people positioned or occurring closely together: clusters of creamy-white flowers they stood there in a frightened cluster...
- Botrytis bunch rot is especially severe in grape cultivars with tight, closely packed clusters of fruit.
- White lights entwined with silver ribbon draped the window sills, door frames, and banister, bunched with clusters of holly and mistletoe.
- Blooms appeared in long clusters of densely packed white flowers.
Synonyms
bunch, clump, collection, mass, knot, group, clutch, bundle, nest;
agglomeration, conglomeration, aggregate;
Botany raceme, panicle, inflorescence, truss
crowd, group, knot, huddle, bunch, gathering, throng, swarm, flock, pack, troupe, party, band, body, collection, assemblage, congregation
informal gang, gaggle
1.1 Astronomy A group of stars or galaxies forming a relatively close association: there are several clusters in Cassiopeia...
- There is a higher proportion of elliptical and fast-rotating spiral galaxies in dense clusters than in small groups.
- A double star cluster in a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way is pictured above.
- Caroline also compiled catalogs of star clusters and nebulae.
1.2 (also consonant cluster) Linguistics A group of consonants pronounced in immediate succession, as str in strong.Consonants regularly occur in strings or clusters without intervening vowels: initially, as in stain and strip, finally, as in fetch and twelfth, medially, as in dodging....
- … if one chooses the Latin, French, or Italian language, since German is much more difficult because of its many closed syllables and consonant clusters.
- Thus, our strong emphasis on onset clusters succeeded in inducing a small but reliable transfer effect.
1.3A natural subgroup of a population, used for statistical sampling or analysis: ten clusters from all the primary health centres were selected...
- We also recruited a large number of clusters and performed statistical analyses taking cluster randomisation into account.
- Using cluster analysis, a statistical method that determines subpopulations in a group, three distinct patterns of behavior emerged.
- This difference was significant, even in the rigorous statistical analysis for the cluster level design, controlling for confounding variables.
1.4 Chemistry A group of atoms of the same element, typically a metal, bonded closely together in a molecule: noble-metal clusters supported on an acidic carrier [as modifier]: a cluster compound...
- In metallic clusters, the metal atoms are either directly bonded through metal-metal interactions or are bridged by appropriate ligands.
- These clusters were once separate molecules, called amino acids.
- Nevertheless, there were no significantly supported clusters including molecules from both vertebrates and invertebrates.
verb [no object]
1Form a cluster or clusters: the children clustered round her skirts...
- The crowd clustered round the sandy square was yelling encouragement at the players, who frowned in concentration in the fading light.
- We got back to find a huge crowd of people clustered around his desk whispering and giggling.
- Inevitably, most of the early morning shoppers clustered around the road, trying to get a look at what was going on.
Synonyms
congregate, gather, collect, group, come together, assemble;
huddle;
crowd, flock, press, pack, mass, swarm
1.1 Statistics (Of data points) have similar numerical values: students tended to have marks clustering around 70 per cent...
- Although there were outliers, the majority of the data points clustered around the population mean.
- In both analyses, we computed robust standard errors adjusted for clustering at the firm level.
- However, while a few genes do show rather high transition bias, most of the estimates cluster tightly around the median value.
Origin
Old English clyster; probably related to clot.