pass muster

verb

Etymology: From pass (“to undergo successfully”) + muster (“military assemblage or review”); from 1570s, originally as pass musters.

1. 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.”

2. 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.”

   “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.”