distribution

noun

dis·tri·bu·tion | \ ˌdi-strə-ˈbyü-shən

Definition of distribution

1a : the act or process of distributing the distribution of leaflets profit distribution the distribution of weight

b law : the act or process of apportioning by a court the personal property of an intestate

2a : the position, arrangement, or frequency of occurrence (as of the members of a group) over an area or throughout a space or unit of time the distribution of the country's population

b biology : the natural geographic range of an organism

3a : something distributed charitable distributions : such as

(1) : a sum of money withdrawn from a fund (such as a retirement fund) and given to the beneficiary (see beneficiary sense 2b) or holder of the fund

(2) : dividend sense 1a

b mathematics

(1) : frequency distribution

(2) : probability function

(3) : probability density function sense 2

4 anatomy : the pattern of branching and termination (see termination sense 4) of a ramifying structure (such as a nerve)

5 business : the marketing or merchandising of commodities keeping track of distribution costs

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Examples of distribution in a Sentence

The group collects food and clothing for distribution to needy families. The distribution of paychecks will happen every other Friday. The university does not permit distribution of leaflets on campus. She was responsible for product distribution. The company handles the distribution of goods to stores nationwide. He complained that the distribution of work was unfair. He studies the distributions of wildcats in North America. The new design provides better weight distribution.

Recent Examples on the Web

The two-week pilot starting Tuesday will use big rigs supplied by autonomous trucking firm TuSimple to haul trailers on five round trips between distribution centers, the company said. — Jennifer Smith, WSJ, "U.S. Postal Service Starts Testing Self-Driving Trucks," 21 May 2019 Apparently, a pilot for a raunchy comedy show starring the Duchess of Sussex and New Girl's Max Greenfield, which was filmed years ago, was picked up for distribution. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "Meghan Markle Once Filmed a Pilot for a Show About Partying in L.A.—and It Was Just Picked Up," 26 Mar. 2019 The same holds true for the shade distribution of the concealers, which leans heavily into light-medium beige hues, with the darkest being a deep tan, by my standards. — Karina Hoshikawa, Allure, "Exclusive: Perricone MD Is Relaunching Its Beloved "No Makeup Makeup" Collection," 15 Mar. 2019 By owning more stations, broadcasters can gain leverage or at least parity when negotiating with program suppliers for content, cable and satellite companies for distribution and with advertisers. — Miriam Gottfried, WSJ, "Apollo to Buy Majority Stake in Cox TV Stations," 15 Feb. 2019 The first two seasons were aired in Canada before hitting Netflix for worldwide distribution. — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, "Get your binge on: Season 3 of sci-fi gem Travelers is out now," 14 Dec. 2018 Notably, the initiative still allows state law to classify drug offenses for distribution and sales as felonies. — German Lopez, Vox, "How Ohio voters could upend the state’s war on drugs this November," 12 Oct. 2018 Implements such as these enjoyed a wide distribution in historic times, and almost invariably they were utilized by female tattooists in the Southwest to mark the human body. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "The United States' Oldest Tattoo Needle Is an Inked-Up Cactus Spine," 28 Feb. 2019 Following the viral video distribution, Kelly was arrested on 21 counts of child pornography. — Alexis Jones, Marie Claire, "R. Kelly Docuseries Reminds Us That Not All Stories of Sexual Assault Are Treated Equally," 11 Jan. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'distribution.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near distribution

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Last Updated

26 May 2019

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Time Traveler for distribution

The first known use of distribution was in the 14th century

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More Definitions for distribution

distribution

noun

English Language Learners Definition of distribution

: the act of giving or delivering something to people

: the act of delivering something to a store or business

: the way that something is divided or spread out

See the full definition for distribution in the English Language Learners Dictionary

distribution

noun

dis·tri·bu·tion | \ ˌdi-strə-ˈbyü-shən

Kids Definition of distribution

1 : the act of giving out or delivering to

2 : the way things are divided or spread out She studies the distribution of wildcats in the area.

3 : something given out or delivered to or divided among

distribution

noun

dis·tri·bu·tion | \ ˌdis-trə-ˈbyü-shən

Medical Definition of distribution

: the pattern of branching and termination of a ramifying anatomical structure (as a nerve or artery)

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distribution

noun

dis·tri·bu·tion | \ ˌdis-trə-ˈbyü-shən

Legal Definition of distribution

1 : the act or process of distributing: as

a : the apportionment by a court of the property and especially personal property of an intestate among those entitled to it according to statute — compare descent, devise

Note: The laws dealing with intestate succession are often called laws of descent and distribution.

b : the payment or transfer to a beneficiary of interest to which he or she is entitled under a trust

c : the transfer by a corporation or mutual fund of money or property to a shareholder in his or her capacity as a shareholder

d : the initial offering to the public of a security by a corporation

e : the delivery of a controlled substance

2 : something distributed