Showing results for "distributed"

• past participle of distribute.
• past tense form of distribute.

distributed

American  

[dih-strib-yoo-tid] / dɪˈstrɪb jʊ tɪd /

adjective

1. Computers.

   1. being or relating to a network of devices, workstations, etc., in different locations connected by means of one or more other networks, allowing each member to carry out some or all of the management and processing of the shared information.

      As computers began to connect across the internet, the CPU evolved from being specifically a central control system to become a node within a distributed network.

   2. being or relating to a single database shared across such a network, especially one integrating multiple smaller databases.

      Back then no one was thinking of distributed databases with hundreds of servers working to keep data consistent across the nodes.

2. Linguistics. (in distinctive feature analysis) characterized by relatively extensive contact or constriction between the articulating organs, as the in show in contrast to the in so.

3. Statistics. showing a specified type of distribution.

   A randomly distributed dominant gene has a prevalence of 75 percent.

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Other Word Forms

• undistributed
  adjective
• well-distributed
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of distributed

distribute + -ed ²

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Explanation

Something is distributed when it's divided up or spread around, the way cupcakes might be distributed among guests at a birthday party. Distributed is a word that's often used to describe the stuff that businesses sell. When a truck pulls up to a convenience store and the driver unloads cases of soda, the soda is being distributed. The driver will go from store to store, distributing all of the soda in the truck between different stores and restaurants. Words and ideas can be distributed too, which is what happens at school when students are lucky.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

distributed

A team led by D'Angelo, Luca Fusar Bassini, and Gioele La Manno has created a detailed map showing how lipids are distributed throughout the mouse brain.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

There is also the sense that the benefits of the current economic strength are distributed even less equally than usual.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

The SPS said there were no prisoner requests for bottled water overnight on Friday but supplies were distributed.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Long Beach has already distributed more than 7,500 sandbags as residents prepare for what could be a very trying weekend.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

By Saturday morning, the new script had been mimeographed and distributed to the cast and technical staff.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow

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Related Words

• appropriated
• assigned
• dispersed
• scattered
• shared

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