distribute Hear it!

distribute Definition

dis·trib·ute (di strib′yo̵̅o̅t, -yo̵ot)

transitive verb -·uted, -·ut·ing

  1. to divide and give out in shares; allot
  2. to scatter or spread out, as over a surface
  3. to divide and arrange according to a classification; classify
  4. to put (things) in various distinct places
  5. Obsolete to administer, as justice
  6. Printing to break up (set type) and put the letters back in the proper boxes
  7. Law to apportion (an intestate's property) to those entitled to it
  8. Logic to use (a term) in such a way as to refer to all members of its extension

Etymology: ME distributen < L distributus, pp. of distribuere, to distribute < dis-, apart + tribuere, to allot: see tribute

distribute Related Forms

dis·trib′·ut·able adjective

distribute Synonyms

distribute

v.

  1. To allot

    dispense, divide, share, deal, dole, bestow, issue, endow, dispose, disperse, circulate, mete out, pass out, parcel out, dole out, hand out, pay out, disburse, administer, give away, assign, allocate, ration, measure out, apportion, consign, prorate, appropriate, dish out*, divvy up*, cut the pie*; see also give 1.

    Antonyms hold*, keep*, preserve. *

  2. To scatter

    spread, sow, disseminate, diffuse; see scatter 1, 2.

  3. To classify

    categorize, group, file; see classify, order 3.

distribute implies a dealing out of portions or a spreading about of units among a number of recipients to distribute leaflets; dispense suggests the careful measuring out of that which is distributed to dispense drugs; divide suggests separation of a whole into parts to be shared an inheritance divided among five children; dole implies a measured distribution of money, food, favor, etc. in a charitable or in a sparing or niggardly manner

distribute Usage Examples

Object

  • leaflet: The day's activism lasted for a couple of hours with over 500 leaflets distributed.
  • computing: Primer on Distributed Computing - A guide to distributed computing.
  • questionnaire: To write this article I distributed a few questionnaires.
  • newsletter: You could collect stories of policy and practice, identify and develop training materials, and distribute the newsletter.
  • copy: Not the right to do anything you want with it, which would include the right to distribute a million copies over the Internet.
  • flyer: Rachel ( Clare ) OA distributed flyers around Clare asking for student staff.

Preposition: on

  • behalf: Distributed on behalf of Defense East by GNN East.
  • paper: Each issue is distributed on paper in bulk to Academic Groups within the Institute.

Adjective complement

free: The report will be distributed free to all UK Physics Departments.

Modifying Another Word

  • evenly: The days of the month are evenly distributed among the days of the week, averaged over any interval of 28 such years.
  • uniformly: In the hot Big Bang model, the matter content of the universe is a uniformly distributed plasma or dust.
  • widely: We have produced a Newsletter which has been distributed widely.
  • unevenly: China's recent economic growth has been unevenly distributed.
  • freely: For example, there's nothing to prevent us from freely distributing information.
  • geographically: In grid computing, heterogeneous resources distributed geographically are virtualized as a unified whole.

Present participle complement

  • accord: Any amount raised could be distributed according to some desirable equity criterion or criteria.
  • authore: The Virtual Training Suite has developed a successful model for collaborative and distributed authoring of eLearning materials.
  • compute: Using the Condor distributed computing environment we can run ipc followed by hydra on a large number of sets of rate constant definitions.

Preposition: without

permission: It may not be copied, adapted or distributed without the permission of the College.

Preposition: with

attribution: These information sheets may be freely distributed with this attribution, but not republished as a whole.