muster

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noun mus·ter \ ˈməs-tər \

Definition of muster

1 :a representative specimen (see specimen 1) :sample

musters of goods for sale

2 a :an act of assembling; specifically :formal military inspection

Call out the troops to stand muster.

b :critical examination

slipshod work that would never pass muster

c :an assembled group :collection

a muster of biographical facts
—Time

d :inventory

were sent … to take the musters of this expedition
—G. R. Elton

See muster defined for English-language learners

Examples of muster in a Sentence

a muster of concerned citizens
considering the muster of suggestions that were submitted for “word of the year”

Recent Examples of muster from the Web

At some point after those new IDs are introduced, regular Oregon driver's licenses will no longer pass muster at federal checkpoints.

— rosemarie stein, OregonLive.com, "Portland Metro Tuesday Traffic: Washington County Sheriff's office releases DUII numbers for June," 11 July 2017
Companies wishing to bid on Oregon transportation projects file evaluation forms with the state and are put on a bidder list after passing muster.

— gordon r. friedman, OregonLive.com, "Oregon hired a company to paint the Ross Island Bridge without knowing its safety record. Then a worker fell.," 6 July 2017
The attorney general's office said the ordinance did pass muster with the state's constitution.

— reed shelton, baltimoresun.com, "Ocean City toplessness activist says she's been assaulted, groped — but never while topless," 2 July 2017
Of course, none of this hospitality would matter if the tacos didn’t pass muster.

— andy staples, SI.com, "Where to eat, drink in College Station, Texas," 30 June 2017
Charlie Shrem is nobody’s image of a traditional financier, but that’s precisely the point with alternative currencies: Their early leaders were the sorts of people who would never pass muster at, say, Morgan Stanley.

— brian patrick eha, Fortune, "Can Bitcoin’s First Felon Help Make Cryptocurrency a Trillion-Dollar Market?," 26 June 2017
Go-between Any compromise on security must pass muster with Greek and Turkish Cypriots who will vote on any peace accord in separate referendums before it would be implemented.

— ben rosen, The Christian Science Monitor, "Can a divided Cyprus finally be unified? Peace summit begins this week," 26 June 2017
The Oregon Senate voted Monday to create a new class of driver's license that would pass muster at airport security lines.

— elliot njus, OregonLive.com, "Oregon Senate moves to create new class of TSA-compliant IDs," 26 June 2017
Go-between Any compromise on security must pass muster with Greek and Turkish Cypriots who will vote on any peace accord in separate referendums before it would be implemented.

— ben rosen, The Christian Science Monitor, "Can a divided Cyprus finally be unified? Peace summit begins this week," 26 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'muster.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of muster

Middle English mustre, from Anglo-French mostre, monstre, from mustrer

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First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

muster Synonyms

Synonyms

assemblage, assembly, conference, congregation, convocation, ingathering, meeting, gathering

Related Words

company, consort, coterie, gang, pack; caucus, forum, market, panel, rally, symposium, synod; audience, gallery, grandstand, house; crowd, flock, horde, legion, multitude, press, swarm, throng; crush, mob, rabble, rabblement

Near Antonyms

entity, item, single, unit

Other Military Terms

bivouac, logistics, petard, salient, sally, supernumerary, tactical

muster

verb

Definition of muster

mustered; mustering play \-t(ə-)riŋ\

transitive verb

1 a :to cause to gather :convene

b :to enroll formally —usually used with in or into

was mustered into the army

c :to call the roll of

2 a :to bring together :collect

b :to call forth :rouse

3 :to amount to :comprise

intransitive verb

:to come together :congregate

See muster defined for English-language learners

See muster defined for kids

Examples of muster in a Sentence

They pushed the car with all the strength they could muster.
a command to muster the troops

Recent Examples of muster from the Web

Holbrook used a two-out rally to muster their first offense against Righter.

— chris brodeur, courant.com, "Fairfield American Routs New Jersey, Needs One More Win To Reach U.S. Title Game," 23 Aug. 2017
And the offense was shut out for the 10th time this season and second time on this road trip, mustering just five hits while going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranding nine runners on base.

— ryan divish, The Seattle Times, "Mariners shut out by Braves 4-0 in collective failure," 22 Aug. 2017
The rest of the lineup has looked lifeless, mustering only three hits off 42-year-old R.A. Dickey on Friday and four against Mike Foltynewicz on Saturday.

— clark spencer, miamiherald, "Same script: Stanton homers again, and Marlins lose to Braves again," 5 Aug. 2017
But that was all the Oilmen offense mustered against the Bloomington pitching staff.

— dave melton, Post-Tribune, "Bloomington's ninth-inning rally stuns Oilmen in playoff opener," 1 Aug. 2017
The party would muster 9.1 percent if elections were held this month, a 1.8 percentage point drop from June, according to a survey carried out July 13-24 by Focus pollster on a sample of 1,025 respondents.

— radoslav tomek, Bloomberg.com, "Slovak Police Charge Head of Far-Right Party With Extremism," 28 July 2017
As for nuking Obamacare, even if the Senate this week cannot muster 50 Yeas, plus Vice President Mike Pence’s tie-breaking vote, the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body can act through the rest of July and, if necessary, all of August.

— deroy murdock, National Review, "Senate Majority Leader McConnell Should . . . Lead the Senate Majority," 10 July 2017
Burbank's offense didn't adapt to the strike calls and couldn't muster up anything after taking an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

— emin avakian, Glendale News-Press, "Crescenta Valley All-Stars down Burbank for District 16 Junior championship," 9 July 2017
All the more reason to treat this fleeting indulgence with more reverence than a melon baller could muster.

— laura regensdorf, Vogue, "3 Surprising Watermelon Recipes for Your Next Summer Party," 1 July 2017

Origin and Etymology of muster

Middle English mustren to show, muster, from Anglo-French mustrer, monstrer, from Latin monstrare to show, from monstrum evil omen, monster — more at monster

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

muster Synonyms

Synonyms

marshal (also marshall), mobilize, rally

Antonyms

demob [chiefly British], demobilize

Related Words

arrange, group, line up, order, organize; call (up), convene, summon; activate; collect, round up

Near Antonyms

disarrange, disorder, disorganize, disrupt, disturb; deactivate, dismiss; break up, disband, dissolve, split (up)

Synonym Discussion of muster

summon, call, cite, convoke, convene, muster mean to demand the presence of. summon implies the exercise of authority.

- was summoned to answer charges

call may be used less formally for summon.

- called the legislature into special session

cite implies a summoning to court usually to answer a charge.

- cited for drunken driving

convoke implies a summons to assemble for deliberative or legislative purposes.

- convoked a Vatican council

convene is somewhat less formal than convoke.

- convened the students

muster suggests a calling up of a number of things that form a group in order that they may be exhibited, displayed, or utilized as a whole.

- mustered the troops

MUSTER Defined for English Language Learners

muster

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noun

Definition of muster for English Language Learners

: a formal military gathering to examine or test soldiers

muster

verb

Definition of muster for English Language Learners

: to work hard to find or get (courage, support, etc.)
: to gather together (a group of people, soldiers, etc.) especially for battle or war

MUSTER Defined for Kids

muster

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noun mus·ter \ ˈmə-stər \

Definition of muster for Students

1 :a formal gathering of military troops for inspection

2 :an act of careful examination or consideration to determine whether something is acceptable or good enough

Your excuses will not pass muster.

muster

verb

Definition of muster for Students

mustered; mustering

1 :to call together (as troops) for roll call or inspection

2 :to bring into being or action

I shall await your arrival with all the eagerness I can muster.
—E. B. White, Stuart Little

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