deploy
dih-PLOY
/dɪˈplɔɪ/
To move resources, equipment, or personnel into position for immediate active use.
Emphasizes purposeful strategic placement ready for operational action in a target zone.
The story behind the word. Traced to Latin 'displicare', meaning 'to unfold'. It passed into French as 'déployer', referring to unfolding troops out of narrow march columns into open battle lines.
Word relationships
- position: Focuses on static location placement rather than readiness for immediate active duty.
- station: Implies long-term semi-permanent assignment.
- recall: To order personnel or resources back from active service.
- withdraw: To pull forces or operational assets back.
Commonly confused with
- employ: Employ means to hire or utilize generally; deploy specifically means placing tactical assets into active operational positions.
Word family
- deployment (noun): The distribution or positioning of forces or assets for action.
Collocations
- deploy resources
- deploy personnel
- rapidly deploy
- deploy equipment
Idioms & expressions
- in the field
Example sentences
- "Search and rescue teams were deployed to the collapsed municipal building within hours of the shock." Disaster Response
Memory hook
DEPLOY means UN-FOLD your forces across the field. Unfold into position.
When not to use
Do not use for informal personal steps like putting on a coat.
Fun facts
- In modern software engineering, developers 'deploy' code when launching an application to live production servers.
Explore more words
deployment, mobilize, allocate, optimize, implementation, campaign
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