distribute
verb OPAL W
/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/ |
- to give things to a large number of people; to share something between a number of people
- 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
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- equally
- fairly
- unequally
- …
- among
- between
- to
- …
- 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
- …
- [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.
- Smokers were randomly distributed in the sample interviewed.
- 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
- …
- across
- among
- between
- …
Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin distribut- ‘divided up’, from the verb distribuere, from dis- ‘apart’ + tribuere ‘assign’.