Library / English Dictionary

CLUSTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A grouping of a number of similar things

Example:

a cluster of admirers

Synonyms:

bunch; clump; cluster; clustering

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("cluster" is a kind of...):

agglomeration (a jumbled collection or mass)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cluster"):

knot (a tight cluster of people or things)

swad (a bunch)

tuft; tussock (a bunch of hair or feathers or growing grass)

Instance hyponyms:

Northern Cross (a cluster of 5 bright stars forming a cross in the constellation Cygnus)

Omega Centauri (a global cluster in the constellation Centaurus)

Pleiades (a star cluster in the constellation Taurus)

Derivation:

cluster (gather or cause to gather into a cluster)

cluster (come together as in a cluster or flock)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Gather or cause to gather into a cluster

Example:

She bunched her fingers into a fist

Synonyms:

bunch; bundle; clump; cluster

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "cluster" is one way to...):

form (assume a form or shape)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cluster"):

agglomerate (form into one cluster)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

cluster; clustering (a grouping of a number of similar things)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Come together as in a cluster or flock

Example:

The poets constellate in this town every summer

Synonyms:

clump; cluster; constellate; flock

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "cluster" is one way to...):

assemble; foregather; forgather; gather; meet (collect in one place)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cluster"):

huddle; huddle together (crowd or draw together)

bunch; bunch together; bunch up (form into a bunch)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The crowds cluster in the streets

Derivation:

cluster; clustering (a grouping of a number of similar things)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The neoplastic cells are often round and form clusters or trabecular sheets.

(Neuroendocrine Carcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)

In the new study, researchers combine recent advances to disentangle the interplay between the constraints that act on the ice-liquid transition in nanometer-sized clusters.

(Scientists probe the limits of ice, National Science Foundation)

Metastasis in the form of small clusters of malignant cells identifiable only under the microscope.

(Micrometastasis, NCI Thesaurus)

The tentacles of jellyfish galaxies are produced in galaxy clusters by a process called ram pressure stripping.

(Supermassive Black Holes Feed on Cosmic Jellyfish, ESO)

The researchers used advanced microscopic techniques to spot Shisa7 tightly clustered with GABAA receptors at synapses.

(‘Sticky’ gene may help Valium calm nerves, National Institutes of Health)

A morphologic finding indicating the presence of clusters of capillaries projecting into a dysplastic bronchial epithelium.

(Angiogenic Squamous Dysplasia, NCI Thesaurus)

Clusters of neurons and their processes in the autonomic nervous system.

(Autonomic Ganglion, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Morphologically, it is characterized by the presence of clusters of intrafollicular C-cells with atypical cytologic features.

(C-Cell Hyperplasia, NCI Thesaurus)

A neuroendocrine cell found in the thyroid gland interspersed among the follicular cells or in clusters between the follicles.

(C-Cell, NCI Thesaurus)

Morphologically, it shows papillae with detached cell clusters.

(Borderline Ovarian Mixed Epithelial Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)