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Definition of distribute verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

distribute

verb
 
/dɪˈstrɪbjuːt/,
 
/ˈdɪstrɪbjuːt/
 
/dɪˈstrɪbjuːt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they distribute
 
/dɪˈstrɪbjuːt/,
 
/ˈdɪstrɪbjuːt/
 
/dɪˈstrɪbjuːt/
he / she / it distributes
 
/dɪˈstrɪbjuːts/,
 
/ˈdɪstrɪbjuːts/
 
/dɪˈstrɪbjuːts/
past simple distributed
 
/dɪˈstrɪbjuːtɪd/,
 
/ˈdɪstrɪbjuːtɪd/
 
/dɪˈstrɪbjuːtɪd/
past participle distributed
 
/dɪˈstrɪbjuːtɪd/,
 
/ˈdɪstrɪbjuːtɪd/
 
/dɪˈstrɪbjuːtɪd/
-ing form distributing
 
/dɪˈstrɪbjuːtɪŋ/,
 
/ˈdɪstrɪbjuːtɪŋ/
 
/dɪˈstrɪbjuːtɪŋ/
jump to other results
  1. to give things to a large number of people; to share something between a number of people or groups
    • distribute something The leaflets have been widely distributed.
    • The newspaper is distributed free.
    • to distribute fliers/pamphlets/questionnaires
    • Viruses are often distributed via email.
    • distribute something to somebody/something The organization distributed food to the earthquake victims.
    • distribute something among somebody/something The money was distributed among schools in the area.
    • distribute something between somebody/something The proceeds will be distributed between local charities.
    Extra Examples
    • Copies of the book were distributed free to each school in the district.
    • We distributed the money equally among the team members.
    • distributing aid to people in need
    • The participants were randomly distributed into three groups.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • equally
    • fairly
    • unequally
    preposition
    • among
    • between
    • to
    See full entry
  2. distribute something (+ adv./prep.) to send goods to shops and businesses so that they can be sold
    • Who distributes our products in the UK?
    • Their trademark jeans enjoyed immediate success and were soon distributed worldwide.
    Extra Examples
    • nationally distributed brands of fruit juice
    • ‘Plastika’ distributes our products in the UK.
    • The cheese is imported and distributed exclusively by Norland Inc.
    • Hood distributes dairy products throughout the United States.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • internationally
    • nationally
    • exclusively
    See full entry
  3. [often passive] to spread something, or different parts of something, over an area
    • be distributed + adv./prep. Make sure your weight is evenly distributed.
    • Cases of the disease are widely distributed through Europe.
    Extra Examples
    • Generous workspaces must be well distributed throughout the library.
    • The plant is globally distributed.
    • The trend is broadly distributed and not just a big-city phenomenon.
    • There are over 35 000 species of orchid distributed throughout the world.
    • Wealth is not evenly distributed between age groups.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • evenly
    • uniformly
    • unevenly
    preposition
    • across
    • among
    • between
    See full entry
  4. Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin distribut- ‘divided up’, from the verb distribuere, from dis- ‘apart’ + tribuere ‘assign’.
See distribute in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee distribute in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
trait
noun
 
 
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