cluster
n. countablen. a group of similar things that are positioned or happen very close together. You use it to describe people, stars, or even data points that form a tight bunch.
n. a group of similar things or people positioned or occurring closely together. Often used in technical contexts to describe a collection of data points, stars, or interconnected computers.
A small cluster of people stood near the entrance.
The researchers noticed a cluster of unusual cases in the northern part of the city during the spring.
The telescope revealed a dense cluster of stars at the galaxy's core, appearing as a single point of light to the naked eye but resolving into thousands of distinct bodies.
The noun is derived from Middle English cluster (“bunch, cluster, spray; compact body or mass, ball”) [and other forms], from Old English cluster, clyster (“cluster, bunch, branch”), from Proto-Germanic klas-, klus- (“to clump, lump together”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European gel- (“to ball up; to clench; to amass”)) + -þrą (suffix forming nouns denoting an instrument or tool). The English word is probably a doublet of clot. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * Dutch klister (“cluster”) (dialectal) * Icelandic klasi (“cluster; bunch of grapes”) * Low German Kluuster (“cluster”) * Swedish kluster (“cluster”)
Commonly paired with the preposition 'of' followed by a plural noun.