distributor

or dis·trib·ut·er

[dih-strib-yuh-ter]

See more synonyms for distributor on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person or thing that distributes.
Commerce.
1. a person, firm, etc., engaged in the general distribution or marketing of some article or class of goods.
2. a wholesaler who has exclusive rights to market, within a given territory, the goods of a manufacturer or company.
Automotive, Machinery. a device in a multicylinder engine that distributes the igniting voltage to the spark plugs in a definite sequence.

Printing.
1. (in a press) one of the rollers for spreading ink on the table, rolling it to a proper consistency, and transferring it to rollers that ink the form or plate.
2. Also called distributor bar.(in a Linotype) a bar with keylike cuts along its length, for sorting matrices into their proper magazines after type has been cast.

Origin of distributor

From the Late Latin word distribūtor, dating back to 1520–30. See distribute, -tor

Related formssub·dis·trib·u·tor, nounun·der·dis·trib·u·tor, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for distributor

trader, dealer, merchandiser, salesperson, jobber

Examples from the Web for distributor

Contemporary Examples of distributor

He went on to thank his family, his gallerist, distributor, and paid tribute to artist Ian White.
Has the Turner Prize Gone Soft?
David Levesley
December 2, 2014
The company had repossessed some of its screws after one U.S. distributor, Spinal Solutions LLC, stopped paying its bills.
Patients Screwed in Spine Surgery ‘Scam’
The Center for Investigative Reporting
November 3, 2014
Wineberry, a New York distributor, is also packaging Bag-in-Box wines in partnership with wineries.
Taking Boxed Wine Seriously: It’s Not Just for Hobos and Teenagers Anymore
Jordan Salcito
March 15, 2014
According to Lee, the remake had a 140-minute cut that he and Brolin preferred, but the distributor slashed it to 105 minutes.
What Asian Film Remakes Like ‘Oldboy’ Get Wrong
Jimmy So
November 26, 2013
Securing a U.S. distributor for a movie with so much violence, sex, and drugs has also proved difficult.
The Movie ‘Filth’ Is Fun!
Nico Hines
October 1, 2013

Historical Examples of distributor

She was not a conqueror of nations or a distributor of crowns, but a giver of alms.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. II
Francis Augustus Cox
Man himself is a great carrier and distributor of his own diseases.
More Science From an Easy Chair
Sir E. Ray (Edwin Ray) Lankester
As a rule, all that a "pusher" or distributor can tell is where he got the bad money.
The Barrel Mystery
William J. (William James) Flynn
The distributor of papers looked at her a little sharply as he went by.
When Sarah Went to School
Elsie Singmaster
But he was by now almost a capitalist—he was a distributor of meal-tickets.
H. R.
Edwin Lefevre

British Dictionary definitions for distributor

distributor

distributer

noun

a person or thing that distributes
a wholesaler or middleman engaged in the distribution of a category of goods, esp to retailers in a specific area
the device in a petrol engine that distributes the high-tension voltage to the sparking plugs in the sequence of the firing order

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for distributor

1520s, distributer (Latinized form is from 1570s), agent noun from Latin distribuere (see distribution). As a part in an internal combustion engine, from 1905.