What does "muster" mean?
A gathering.; An assemblage or display; a gathering, collection of people or things.
Muster
/ˈmʌs.tɚ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A gathering.; An assemblage or display; a gathering, collection of people or things.
- Grammar: muster is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: accumulate, agenda, agglomerate, aggregate.
- Useful contrasts: complete, deter, dismiss.
- Usage evidence: That's me - the coward unable to muster his courage and find out the truth.
How to use "muster"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "muster" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "muster" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "muster" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "muster" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "muster" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "accumulate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "muster", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A gathering.; 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."
- 2 Synonym of mustee.
"The next, the Quadroon, from the white and mulatto woman. The third descent, from a white and quadroon, is called a muster; from the fourth, between a white and a muster, springs the musteephinas and the fifth descent, viz. from a white and musteephina, is white by law, and of free birth; indeed the two latter classes are as white as a European."
- 3 compulsory military service wordnet
- 4 A gathering.; 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."
- 5 a gathering of military personnel for duty wordnet
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 A gathering.; 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."
- 7 A gathering.; A roundup of livestock for inspection, branding, drenching, shearing etc. Australia, New-Zealand
"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."
- 8 Showing.; Something shown for imitation; a pattern. obsolete
"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 pattern"
- 9 Showing.; A sample of goods. obsolete
"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: […]"
- 10 Showing.; An act of showing something; a display. obsolete
"Thus all things being condignely ordered, will an ill favoured impatiencie he waited, until the next morning he might make a muster of him selfe in the Iland […]"
- 11 Showing.; A collection of peafowl. (not a term used in zoology)
Verb
- 1 To show, exhibit. obsolete, transitive
- 2 call to duty, military service, jury duty, etc. wordnet
- 3 To be gathered together for parade, inspection, exercise, or the like (especially of a military force); to come together as parts of a force or body. intransitive
"We were then in the third week of November; but, we took our measures so vigorously, and were so well seconded by the friends in whom we confided, that there was still a week of the month unexpired, when our party all came down together merrily, and mustered in the haunted house."
- 4 gather or bring together wordnet
- 5 To collect, call or assemble together, such as troops or a group for inspection, orders, display etc. transitive
"12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift With the help of some low-end boosting, Dinklage musters a decent amount of kid-appropriate menace—although he never does explain his gift for finding chunks of ice shaped like pirate ships—but Romano and Leary mainly sound bored, droning through their lines as if they’re simultaneously texting the contractors building the additions on their houses funded by their fat sequel paychecks."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 To enroll (into service). US, transitive
- 7 To gather or round up livestock. Australia, New-Zealand, transitive
- 8 To look within oneself to summon (a particular positive quality, such as strength, energy or courage); see: muster up. transitive
"I couldn't muster the courage to tell him."
Example
"That's me - the coward unable to muster his courage and find out the truth."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "muster"?
Common synonyms include: accumulate, agenda, agglomerate, aggregate, aggregation, aggroup.
How do you use "muster" in a sentence?
That's me - the coward unable to muster his courage and find out the truth.
How do you pronounce "muster"?
Pronounced /ˈmʌs.tɚ/.
Etymology
From Middle English musteren, borrowed from Anglo-Norman mostrer, Middle French monstrer, moustrer (whence the noun monstre, which gave the English noun), from Latin mōnstrō (“to show”), from moneō (“to admonish”). Cognate with French montrer (“to show”), Italian mostrare (“to show”), Spanish mostrar (“to show”). See also monster.