deploy
Americanverb (used with object)
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Military. to spread out (troops) so as to form an extended front or line.
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to arrange in a position of readiness, or to move strategically or appropriately.
to deploy a battery of new missiles.
verb (used without object)
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to spread out strategically or in an extended front or line.
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to come into a position ready for use.
The plane can't land unless the landing gear deploys.
verb
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to adopt or cause to adopt a battle formation, esp from a narrow front formation
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(tr) to redistribute (forces) to or within a given area
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of deploy
First recorded in 1470–80; from French déployer, equivalent to dé- prefix with negative force + ployer “to fold”; see dis- 1, ploy
Explanation
To deploy is to move into fighting formation, the way a military commander might deploy troops in preparation for a battle. You'll almost always find the word deploy in a military context. The Latin plicāre means "fold." By adding dis- to it, to get displicāre, we get the idea of an "unfolding," or distributing. This is the basis of the word deploy, and it gives us a good mental image of the sending out, or "unfolding," of troops in a military plan. To deploy means more than just dispersing troops, however — there is usually a specific formation in mind, consistent with military strategies. And you can deploy nonmilitary assets, too, like accounting teams before an IRS audit.
Vocabulary lists containing deploy
ASVAB Word Knowledge
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A Long Way Gone
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John F. Kennedy's Address to the American People on the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
All told, Ford Energy plans to deploy at least 20 gigawatt hours annually of the company’s battery energy-storage systems.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
With the latest launch, Pyongyang is indicating that it intends to deploy such a weapon system in the event of war, said analyst Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
Both sides deploy plane-like unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, as well as quadcopters.
From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2026
An explosion erupted roughly 50 minutes later, prompting additional emergency responders to deploy to the scene.
From BBC • May 23, 2026
He had to have been thinking a bomb was about to drop, that Cade Hernandez was about to deploy a heat-seeking missile.
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
