redistribute
Americanverb (used with object)
-
redistributes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
redistributed,
past participle, past
-
redistributing
present participle
-
to distribute again or anew.
The corporation will redistribute its share of the profits to its stockholders.
-
to alter the distribution of; apportion differently.
Let's redistribute the work more fairly.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
redistributesimple
-
redistributessimple
-
have redistributedperfect
-
has redistributedperfect
-
am redistributingprogressive
-
are redistributingprogressive
-
is redistributingprogressive
-
have been redistributingperfect progressive
-
has been redistributingperfect progressive
Past
-
redistributedsimple
-
had redistributedperfect
-
was redistributingprogressive
-
were redistributingprogressive
-
had been redistributingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of redistribute
First recorded in 1605–15; re- + distribute
Explanation
Redistribute is a verb that means to distribute something again. If one poker player gets too many cards and another gets too few, the dealer should probably shuffle again and redistribute the cards evenly. You may recall the story of Robin Hood, who took it upon himself to "redistribute the wealth" by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Well, in conversations about contemporary economics the word redistribute is often used to complain about taxes, which are often higher for people who have more money.
Vocabulary lists containing redistribute
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.
See Examples For:
The research shows how major seasonal changes, including melting snow, moving ocean water, and dense winter air, redistribute enormous amounts of mass across Earth's surface.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
"The impact was violent enough to redistribute material globally, but not so strong that it would have shattered the moon."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
The food shops, run by Social Enterprise Kent, redistribute surplus food and offer cut-price groceries.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
They also import goods from other countries and redistribute them within Canada.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
After lengthy discussions about how to redistribute power and land, Octavian and Mark Antony reached a compromise.
From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby
FareShare North East redistributes food donated by supermarkets from its warehouses in Newcastle and Middlesbrough to more than 200 community groups, including food banks.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Another potential catalyst: SK Hynix redistributes 10% of its operating profit in employee bonuses—a practice Samsung is also beginning to adopt.
From Barron's ● May 13, 2026
Squeezing redistributes this uncertainty by making one property more precise while increasing uncertainty in the other.
From Science Daily ● May 1, 2026
A charity that redistributes food to community larders delivered about 15,000 more meals to people in July compared to the same period last year.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2025
Its shape changes utterly as the weight redistributes.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
"By enabling heat to be guided, focused and redistributed with nanoscale precision at room temperature, the discovery establishes a foundation for quantum thermal engineering."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
However, Adam, from the IFS, argues that whether or not money would be redistributed from London and the South East depends on whether the government changes the central grants it gives to local authorities.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
During the Progressive Era, when party machine politics dominated, judicial elections were put forward as a reform to promote democratic accountability because they broke up concentrations of power and redistributed it to the people.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026
Petno helped put an end to its stand-alone mergers and acquisitions department and redistributed that team across the bank.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
I had written that Kwang took no profits and made no interest, that he just redistributed funds at the end of every week, like any ggeh.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
She has said Wildberries was "focused on redistributing" across its warehouses and "ensuring the financial stability of our partners."
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
I’m worried I may not be diversified enough and may fare better selling and redistributing into less risky index funds.
From MarketWatch ● May 22, 2026
Comments from a senior South Korean official floating the idea of redistributing profits from the AI windfall to citizens weighed on Korean stocks, tapping the brakes on what has been a breakneck run-up this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
Holocaust Memorial Museum describes the program as a coordinated effort to strip communities of cultural identity while redistributing art through state and black-market channels.
From Salon ● May 9, 2026
The subprime mortgage market was generating half a trillion dollars’ worth of new loans a year, but the circle of people redistributing the risk that the entire market would collapse was tiny.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
