deploy
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to move soldiers or equipment into a position where they are ready for action.
v.to position military forces or resources strategically for a specific mission or operation.
Simple“The government decided to deploy more police officers to the city centre during the festival.”
In context“The peacekeeping force was deployed to the border region to monitor the ceasefire and prevent further escalations of violence.”
UsageOften used in the passive voice when referring to troops.
- 02 C1 Advanced
v.to make a computer program or system ready for people to use.
v.to move a software application or update from a development environment to a live production environment.
Simple“The team will deploy the new version of the app tonight while most users are asleep.”
In context“After rigorous beta testing, the engineers finally deployed the security patch across the entire corporate network to mitigate the vulnerability.”
UsageCommonly used as a transitive verb with software or systems as the object.
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to open up or unfold so that something can work.
v.to move from a stowed or folded position into a functional, open state.
Simple“The car's airbags are designed to deploy instantly if there is a crash.”
In context“The satellite's solar panels failed to deploy correctly, leaving the craft with a critically low power supply shortly after it reached orbit.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
n.the act of moving things or people into position.
n.the action of bringing resources into effective action; a synonym for deployment.
Simple“The general ordered a rapid deploy of the reserve units.”
In context“In historical military texts, one might find 'deploy' used as a noun to describe the tactical arrangement of a battalion.”
Teacher's tipThis noun form is very rare in modern English; speakers almost always use 'deployment' instead.
Synonyms
Usage deploy police · deployed to the area
“The majority of his forces are deployed in more than 80 countries worldwide, Bradley said.”
“The US has deployed artificial intelligence tools to catch transshipment efforts, it added.”
Borrowed from French déployer (“to unroll, unfold”), from Old French desploiier, itself from des- + ploiier, or possibly from Late Latin displicāre (“to unfold, display”), from Latin dis- (“apart”) + plicare (“to fold”). Compare Middle English desployen, dysployen (“to unfold, display”). Doublet of display.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.