Tending to distribute; serving to divide and assign in portions; dealing to each his proper share
Distributive means relating to the distribution of goods. Reorganization is necessary on the distributive side of this industry. connected with distribution
Expressing separation; denoting a taking singly, not collectively; as, a distributive adjective or pronoun, such as each, either, every; a distributive numeral, as (Latin) bini (two by two)
One of the laws relating to number operations. In symbols, it is stated: a(b + c) = ab + ac. The monomial factor a is distributed, or separately applied, to each term of the polynomial factor b + c, resulting in the product ab + ac. It can also be stated in words: The result of first adding several numbers and then multiplying the sum by some number is the same as first multiplying each separately by the number and then adding the products. See also associative law; commutative law
in a distributive manner; "marine vertebrates have their weight supported distributively by the water" as individuals or as separate units (not collectively); "taken distributively, their rights are imperceptible