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📕 rednote ID(小红书号)：3881567312

How to Use Distribute: Meaning & Usage Guide (2 meaning)

Meaning 1：hand out (distribute)

distribute 🔊

/dɪˈstrɪbjuːt/

vt.

to give things out to different people or places.

Illustration of the verb distribute showing a volunteer handing out food boxes.

hand out 🔊

➕

/hænd aʊt/

vt.

To systematically give out items or resources to a number of recipients.

📁 Category：Social Economy 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

dis- (apart) + tribuere (to allot, assign)

💡 Mnemonic

Think of a 'tribute' being shared 'apart' (dis-) among many people.

📖 Example

Volunteers will distribute warm blankets to the homeless in the city park tonight. 🔊 Volunteers will hand out warm blankets to the homeless in the city park tonight.

🔗 Collocations

distribute flyers – to hand out informational leaflets or advertisements

distribute aid – to systematically deliver humanitarian assistance

distribute profits – to allocate and pay out earnings among shareholders or partners

🔄 Synonyms

dispense (vt.) – to give out, especially in portions

allocate (vt.) – to set apart for a specific purpose; to assign

dole out (phr. v.) – to distribute in small or limited amounts

🚫 Antonyms

collect (v.) – to bring or gather together

hoard (v.) – to accumulate and store away a large supply

🌱 Derivatives

distribution (n.) – the act or process of distributing something

distributor (n.) – a person or company that supplies goods to stores

📖 Cultural Story

The word comes from Latin 'distribuere', meaning 'to divide, deal out'. It reflects a fundamental social or logistical action: dividing resources among a group. In modern culture, 'distribute' is a key term in logistics, supply chain management, and digital media (e.g., film distribution).

Meaning 2：be spread (distribute)

distribute 🔊

/dɪˈstrɪbjuːt/

vt.

to spread or scatter something over a wide area.

Diagram explaining the distribution of a species across a world map.

be spread 🔊

➕

/bi spred/

vt.

To exist or be scattered over a particular geographical area or range.

📁 Category：Natural Geography 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

This type of plant is distributed mainly in the mountainous regions of Asia. 🔊 This type of plant is mainly spread across the mountainous regions of Asia.

🔗 Collocations

widely distributed – found over a large geographical area

geographical distribution – the natural occurrence and spread of a species across a region

distribute evenly – to spread uniformly across a space

🔄 Synonyms

scatter (v.) – to throw or spread things loosely over an area

dispersed (adj.) – spread over a wide area

range (v.) – to vary or extend within specified limits

🚫 Antonyms

concentrated (adj.) – gathered closely together in one place

localized (adj.) – restricted to a particular place