distributive

adjective

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dis·trib·u·tive | \ di-ˈstri-byü-tiv

, -byə-

Definition of distributive

1 : of or relating to distribution: such as

a : dealing a proper share to each of a group

b : diffusing more or less evenly

2 of a word : referring singly and without exception to the members of a group each, either, and none are distributive

3a : being an operation (such as multiplication in a(b + c) = ab + ac) that produces the same result when operating on the whole mathematical expression as when operating on each part and collecting the results

b : being or relating to a rule or property concerning a distributive operation the distributive property of multiplication with respect to addition

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Examples of distributive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Thursday, Aidan and I spent an hour arguing about the distributive property for math, and another conjugating hablar for Spanish. — Kevin Fisher-paulson, SFChronicle.com, "Fisher-Paulson: An unfortunate accident brings up wonderful memories," 17 Nov. 2020 Overall, women working in leadership positions in Utah counties hold 61.2% of redistributive roles, 37.5% of regulatory positions, 32.7% of administrative spots and 13.2% of distributive jobs. — Becky Jacobs, The Salt Lake Tribune, "Women’s leadership in Utah’s county governments varies widely," 2 Sep. 2020 Opening the world’s borders would be an act of revenue-generating humanitarianism—a form of laissez-faire global distributive justice, on the order of seventy-five trillion dollars a year. — Zoey Poll, The New Yorker, "The Case for Open Borders," 20 Feb. 2020 But in 1960, the Russian mathematician Anatoly Karatsuba found a new limit, using his own application of the distributive law to find a more efficient way to multiply. — Quanta Magazine, "On Your Mark, Get Set, Multiply," 23 Sep. 2019 What about the distributive approach? 25 × 63 = 25 × (60 + 3) = 25 × 60 + 25 × 3 = 1500 + 75 = 1575. — Quanta Magazine, "On Your Mark, Get Set, Multiply," 23 Sep. 2019 In a distributive bargain, one player tries to extract as many concessions from the other without ceding anything in return. — David Fickling | Bloomberg, Washington Post, "Trade Talks Are Foundering on Mistrust and Arrogance," 7 May 2019 While Trump’s instincts seem to lean towards the distributive style, the agreements with South Korea, Mexico, and Canada that Lighthizer has produced to date have in fact been fairly small-scale, integrative accords. — David Fickling | Bloomberg, Washington Post, "Trade Talks Are Foundering on Mistrust and Arrogance," 7 May 2019 Most negotiations can be characterized as either distributive, or integrative. — David Fickling | Bloomberg, Washington Post, "Trade Talks Are Foundering on Mistrust and Arrogance," 7 May 2019

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