Sprinkle vs Distribute - What's the difference?
sprinkle | distribute |
(lb) To cause (a substance) to fall in fine drops (for a liquid substance) or small pieces (for a solid substance).
:
*(Bible), (w) xiv. 16
*:And the priest shallsprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord.
*
*:At twilight in the summeron the floor.
(lb) To cover (an object) by sprinkling a substance on to it.
:
*2005 , Justus Roux, Who's Your Daddy? , page 66:
*:Most of the passengers watched from the enclosed promenade deck, but Sandra found her way to the higher, open promenade where she shivered and watched the city lights fade and the stars sprinkle themselves across a dark blue velvet sky.
(lb) To drip in fine drops, sometimes sporadically.
:
(lb) To baptize by the application of a few drops, or a small quantity, of water; hence, to cleanse; to purify.
*(Bible), (w) x. 22
*:having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience
A light covering with a sprinkled substance.
A light rain shower.
(senseid)To divide into portions and dispense.
(senseid)To supply to retail outlets.
(senseid)To deliver or pass out.
(senseid)To scatter or spread.
(senseid)To apportion (more or less evenly).
(senseid)To classify or separate into categories.
(senseid)(mathematics) To be distributive.
(printing) To separate (type which has been used) and return it to the proper boxes in the cases.
(printing) To spread (ink) evenly, as upon a roller or a table.
(logic) To employ (a term) in its whole extent; to take as universal in one premise.
* Whately
As verbs the difference between sprinkle and distribute
is that sprinkle is (lb) to cause (a substance) to fall in fine drops (for a liquid substance) or small pieces (for a solid substance) while distribute is (senseid)to divide into portions and dispense.As a noun sprinkle
is a light covering with a sprinkled substance.sprinkle
English
Verb
(sprinkl)Quotations
* 1893 , Edward F. Bigelow (editor and publisher), The Observer: a Medium of Interchange of Observations for all Students and Lovers of Nature , volume IV, number 4, page 114: *: There is no more beautiful object in the still and shady aisles of the wood than a great patch of the deep green hairy cap moss studded and starred by these little roses that are often scattered over it as thickly as the stars sprinkle the sky. * April 26th, 1899', ''Memorial Day Oration'' of General P. McGlashan, printed in '''1902 in ''Addresses delivered before the Confederate Veterans Association of Savannah by that association: *: As I laid him back on the litter he threw out his arms and clasped me around my neck, drew me towards him and kissed me, saying: "Colonel, I love you." [...] Unnumbered instances like this might be recounted did the time permit it. They sprinkle the whole four years as the stars sprinkle the sky. * 2010 , Donald E. MacKay, Love Is Stronger Than Death , page 91: *: [...] she will remember his words and gaze at the stars. One dark night when the stars sprinkle the heavens, she would call out to the stars and ask the same questions her benefactor had asked; perhaps she will be favored with answers.Derived terms
* sprinklerNoun
(en noun)- He decorated the Christmas card with a sprinkle of glitter.
Synonyms
* (light covering with a sprinkled substance) sprinklingDerived terms
* sugar sprinklesdistribute
English
Verb
(distribut)- He distributed the bread amongst his followers.
- The agency distributes newspapers to local shops.
- A network of children distributes flyers to every house.
- I raked the soil then distributed grass seed.
- The robot's six legs distributed its weight over a wide area.
- The database distributed verbs into transitive and intransitive segments.
- A term is said to be distributed when it is taken universal, so as to stand for everything it is capable of being applied to.