distributor

American  

[dih-strib-yuh-ter] / dɪˈstrɪb yə tər /

Or distributer

noun

1. a person or thing that distributes.

2. Commerce.

   1. a person, firm, etc., engaged in the general distribution or marketing of some article or class of goods.

   2. a wholesaler who has exclusive rights to market, within a given territory, the goods of a manufacturer or company.

3. Automotive, Machinery. a device in a multicylinder engine that distributes the igniting voltage to the spark plugs in a definite sequence.

4. Printing.

   1. (in a press) one of the rollers for spreading ink on the table, rolling it to a proper consistency, and transferring it to rollers that ink the form or plate.

   2. Also called distributor bar.  (in a Linotype) a bar with keylike cuts along its length, for sorting matrices into their proper magazines after type has been cast.

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distributor British  

/ dɪˈstrɪbjʊtə /

noun

1. a person or thing that distributes

2. a wholesaler or middleman engaged in the distribution of a category of goods, esp to retailers in a specific area

3. the device in a petrol engine that distributes the high-tension voltage to the sparking plugs in the sequence of the firing order

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Other Word Forms

• subdistributor noun
• underdistributor noun

Etymology

Origin of distributor

From the Late Latin word distribūtor, dating back to 1520–30. See distribute, -tor

Explanation

It's great that you've got something amazing to sell, but without a distributor you're not going to be able to get it to the people who want to buy it. To distribute it, you need a distributor. A dealer at a card table is as much a distributor as is the Coca-Cola Bottling Company. Both of them share the job of getting their product into the hands of the folks who want it. Whether you're handing out a dozen flyers on the street or shipping a million books to shoppers nationwide, you're a distributor. In the world of electrical engineering, a distributor is a device that sends an electrical current from one contact to another. It distributes the electricity, just like that dealer dealing cards.

Example Sentences

Viatris Inc., the parent company of the distributor, did not respond to The Times’ request for comment.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026

Jim Foster, the owner of Global-Pak, an Ohio-based industrial packing distributor that sells bulk bags for shipping and storing dry powder products, spent about $7 million paying the now-voided tariffs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

The news follows an announcement Monday that will see Volvo become the exclusive distributor of Lynk & Co vehicles in Europe.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

Sysco stock plunges after the wholesale restaurant food distributor agrees to buy a competitor for around $29 billion.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

Beside the road I saw a very large establishment, the greatest distributor of sea shells in the world—and this in Wisconsin, which hasn’t known a sea since pre-Cambrian times.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• dealer
• trader