pass muster
verbUK /ˌpɑːs ˈmʌst.ə/ · US /ˌpæs ˈmʌs.tɚ/
Etymology From pass (“to undergo successfully”) + muster (“military assemblage or review”); from 1570s, originally as pass musters.
1
Idiomatic To meet or exceed a particular standard.
- To get a raise, an employee must pass muster with the boss.
- Also passing muster were the loin of lamb in a zinfandel sauce and a variation on chicken marsala served with an avocado, tomato and cheese topping.1990 July, Pete Johnson, “A Taste of France in Huntington Beach”, in Orange Coast Magazine:
2 more examples
- [George] Harrison's all-American band had passed muster on Dark Horse and were the leading performers of the period […]2006, Simon Lang, While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison, Hal Leonard Corporation, published 2006, →ISBN, page 167:
- Supple yet tough, these nylon pants can take a week of bushwhacking and still pass muster at a dress-code restaurant.2009 March, “Field Test: Global Apparel”, in Backpacker:
2
Idiomatic To adequately pass a formal or informal inspection.
- So while speaking directly to a celebrated stranger may not be possible without first passing muster with a squad of handlers and publicists, you can do the next best thing: dial the famous person's last listed phone number and talk to the lucky, star-dusted citizen who inherited it.1990 June, Max Carter, “Yoko Ono, Phone Home”, in Spy:
- In any event, the Texas law clearly passes muster under rational basis review, which doesn't presume to grade our citizens' moral judgments as if they were submitted as part of an undergraduate exam in moral philosophy.2005, Jeffrey Rosen, “Rosen, J., dissenting”, in Jack M. Balkin, editor, What Roe V. Wade Should Have Said: The Nation's Top Legal Experts Rewrite America's Most Controversial Decision, New York University Press, →ISBN, page 184:
1 more example
- Although I had worked on school newspapers, I did not know what news was — that is, what events would make a story and what combination of words would make it into print after passing muster with the night city editor.2009, Robert Darnton, The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future, PublicAffairs, published 2009, →ISBN, page 25:
- Synonyms
- cut the mustard, cut it, hack it, make the grade, measure up
- Related terms
- muster out, muster roll, muster up, up to snuff, up to par, with flying colors