# distributed

/dɪˈstɹɪbjətəd/ (US) · /dˈɪstɹɪbjˌuːtɪd/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/distributed
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. spread over an area

adjective · CEFR B2

spread out over a large area or among many people.

For teachers: dispersed or scattered across a significant geographical area or throughout a population.

- The company has a distributed workforce with employees living in ten different countries.
- The species is widely distributed across the northern hemisphere, though its population density varies significantly by climate zone.

### 2. computing

adjective · CEFR C1 · Technical

describing a system where many computers work together on the same task.

For teachers: relating to a system of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through a network to achieve a common goal.

- A distributed network is harder to crash because there is no single point of failure.
- The research team utilised a distributed computing model to process the massive datasets generated by the particle accelerator.

Usage: Often used to describe databases, networks, or ledger technologies like blockchain.

## Examples

- The software distributed the files to every computer on the network.
- The system distributed the incoming web traffic across several servers to prevent any single machine from crashing.
- By utilizing a distributed computing model, the research team processed decades of climate data in weeks rather than years, leveraging the idle power of thousands of individual workstations.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.