To distribute means to give out or deliver things to multiple people or places. When a teacher distributes worksheets to the class, she hands them out so everyone gets one. When a charity distributes food to families in need, it makes sure the supplies reach the people who need them most.

The word comes from the idea of spreading things around rather than keeping them in one place. A newspaper company distributes papers to stores and homes across the city each morning. A factory distributes its products to retailers in different states. Your body distributes blood to every part of you through your circulatory system.

Distribution (the noun form) describes how something spreads out or gets divided up. Scientists might study the distribution of rainfall across a continent, noticing that some areas get much more than others. In math class, you might learn about the distributive property, which shows how multiplication distributes over addition: 3 × (4 + 5) equals (3 × 4) + (3 × 5).

When something is well-distributed, it's spread evenly rather than bunched up in one spot. If you're spreading mulch in a garden bed, you want it distributed evenly so all the plants benefit equally.