# distribute

Pronunciation: say "di-STRIB-yoot" US /dɪˈstɹɪbjut/, UK /dɪˈstɹɪbjuːt/

## Verb

1. To divide something into portions and hand the portions out to recipients.
   - Simple: To split something into parts and give the parts to different people.
   - _Relief workers distribute food rations to each household in the camp._
   - _The committee distributed the grant money among twelve community projects._
2. To deliver or hand out items to a number of people or places.
   - Simple: To give out things to many people, like papers or letters.
   - _Campaign workers distribute pamphlets outside the train station every morning._
   - _The company distributes the magazine to subscribers before dawn each day._
3. To divide something among people or things so that each receives a roughly equal share.
   - Simple: To share something out so each person or place gets a fair amount.
   - _Engineers distribute the load across several support beams._
   - _The new tax plan distributes the burden more evenly across income groups._
4. To supply products to retail outlets, where they are offered for sale to the public.
   - Simple: To send products to many stores so people can buy them.
   - _Several wholesalers distribute the brand's products to independent bookstores nationwide._
   - _The brewery distributed its seasonal ale to bars and liquor stores throughout the region._
5. To scatter or spread something so that it covers an area or surface.
   - Simple: To spread or scatter things over an area or surface.
   - _Glaciers distribute rocks and sediment across vast stretches of landscape._
   - _She distributed the mulch in a thin layer around each plant._
6. To classify a set of things by separating them into distinct categories.
   - Simple: To sort things into different groups or types.
   - _Archivists distribute incoming documents into folders according to subject and date._
   - _The biologist distributed the specimens into categories based on wing shape._
7. To organize a workforce so that employees work remotely from multiple locations rather than a single office.
   - Simple: To have a company's workers do their jobs from many different places.
   - _Some firms distribute their engineering teams across a dozen time zones._
   - _As a fully distributed company, the agency has no head office, and its designers work from home in four countries._
8. To apply across each term of a sum or other combination, giving the same result as applying the operation to the whole.
   - Simple: In math, to work on each part of a sum and still give the same answer.
   - _Multiplication distributes over addition in ordinary arithmetic._
   - _In Boolean algebra, conjunction and disjunction each distribute over the other._
9. To spread ink in an even film over a surface such as a roller or ink table before printing.
   - Simple: In printing, to spread ink in a thin, even layer.
   - _Press operators distribute the ink thoroughly on the rollers before running the first sheets._
   - _He distributed a fresh layer of ink over the stone slab with quick, overlapping passes._
10. To break up type that has been printed from and return each piece to its proper compartment in the case.
   - Simple: In printing, to put used metal letters back into the right boxes after a job.
   - _Compositors distribute the type after a job, dropping each letter into its proper box._
   - _He distributed the headline type first, since the large letters were easiest to read._
11. To use a term so that it applies to every member of the class it names, taking it as universal within a premise.
   - Simple: In logic, to use a word so it covers every member of its group.
   - _Universal statements distribute their subject term, while particular statements do not._
   - _The proposition 'No reptiles are mammals' distributes both of its terms._

## Origin

From Latin distributus, the past participle of distribuere ("to divide, distribute"), formed from dis- ("apart") and tribuere ("to give, impart"), the same root seen in tribute.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/distribute (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).