Dictionary entry details
• DISTRIBUTE (verb)
Meaning:
Administer or bestow, as in small portions
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Synonyms:
shell out; parcel out; mete out; dole out; distribute; dispense; dish out; deal out; lot; administer; allot; deal
Context examples:
administer critical remarks to everyone present / dole out some money / shell out pocket money for the children / deal a blow to someone
Hypernyms (to "distribute" is one way to...):
give (transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distribute"):
allot; assign; portion (give out or allot)
reallot (allot again)
deal (distribute to the players in a game)
apply; give (give or convey physically)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Meaning:
Distribute or disperse widely
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Synonyms:
spread; distribute
Context example:
The invaders spread their language all over the country
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distribute"):
diffuse; fan out; spread; spread out (move outward)
sprawl; straggle (go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way)
redistribute (distribute anew)
deploy (to distribute systematically or strategically)
propagate (transmit or cause to broaden or spread)
export (cause to spread in another part of the world)
straw; strew (spread by scattering ()
discharge (pour forth or release)
metastasise; metastasize (spread throughout the body)
generalise; generalize (become systemic and spread throughout the body)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Meaning:
Make available
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Context example:
The publisher wants to distribute the book in Asia
Hypernyms (to "distribute" is one way to...):
transfer (cause to change ownership)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distribute"):
issue; supply (circulate or distribute or equip with)
reticulate (distribute by a network, as of water or electricity)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sentence example:
Sam and Sue distribute the movie
Meaning:
Give out
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Synonyms:
hand out; pass out; give out; distribute
Context example:
The teacher handed out the exams
Hypernyms (to "distribute" is one way to...):
gift; give; present (give as a present; make a gift of)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distribute"):
apportion; deal; divvy up; portion out; share (give out as one's portion or share)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Meaning:
Cause to be distributed
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Synonyms:
pass around; circulate; distribute; pass on
Context example:
This letter is circulating among the faculty
Hypernyms (to "distribute" is one way to...):
displace; move (cause to move, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distribute"):
scatter; spread; spread out (strew or distribute over an area)
utter (put into circulation)
send around (forward to others)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Meaning:
Cause to become widely known
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
disseminate; pass around; circulate; broadcast; diffuse; circularise; circularize; disperse; spread; distribute; propagate
Context examples:
spread information / circulate a rumor / broadcast the news
Hypernyms (to "distribute" is one way to...):
air; bare; publicise; publicize (make public)
Cause:
circulate; go around; spread (become widely known and passed on)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distribute"):
sough; sow (introduce into an environment)
generalise; generalize; popularise; popularize; vulgarise; vulgarize (cater to popular taste to make popular and present to the general public; bring into general or common use)
carry; run (include as the content; broadcast or publicize)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Meaning:
Spread throughout a given area
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Context example:
the function distributes the values evenly
Hypernyms (to "distribute" is one way to...):
scatter; spread; spread out (strew or distribute over an area)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Meaning:
Be distributed or spread, as in statistical analyses
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Context example:
Values distribute
Hypernyms (to "distribute" is one way to...):
be; exist (have an existence, be extant)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Meaning:
Be mathematically distributive
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Hypernyms (to "distribute" is one way to...):
be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Meaning:
To arrange in a systematic order
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Synonyms:
stagger; distribute
Context example:
stagger the chairs in the lecture hall
Hypernyms (to "distribute" is one way to...):
arrange; set up (put into a proper or systematic order)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
