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Literary notes about muster (AI summary)

In literature, "muster" is a versatile term used both in physical and metaphorical senses. It often refers to the assembling or gathering of troops or people for battle or formal duty, as seen in historical narratives and military contexts [1][2][3][4]. At the same time, the word is also employed metaphorically to describe an individual's effort to summon inner strength, courage, or resolve when faced with challenges [5][6][7]. Additionally, "muster" appears in contexts that denote achieving a level or standard, such as when something is deemed to "pass muster" or be acceptable [8][9][10]. This range of usage underscores its ability to convey both the literal gathering of forces and the figurative gathering of personal resources.
  1. The king can muster 10,000 fighting men, including 1,200 horse.
    — from A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama 1497-1499
  2. The king can muster 20,000 fighting men, scilicet 10,000 horse and the others on foot, besides 400 war-elephants.
    — from A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama 1497-1499
  3. The king can muster 10,000 fighting men and possesses 500 fighting elephants.
    — from A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama 1497-1499
  4. The king can muster 40,000 fighting men.
    — from A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama 1497-1499
  5. Once again, the accused has to muster all his strength and mustn't give up."
    — from The Trial by Franz Kafka
  6. He answered in such English as he could muster.
    — from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge
  7. , he said; but in your presence, even if I had any faint notion, I could not muster courage to utter it.
    — from The Republic by Plato
  8. Sometimes since Lizzie was left free by father's death, I have thought that such a young woman might soon acquire more than enough to pass muster.
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  9. If such reasonings could pass muster among ourselves, need we wonder that they long escaped detection by the savage?
    — from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer
  10. not pass muster, barely pass muster; fall short &c. 304.
    — from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget

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