Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To distribute the administrative functions or powers of (a central authority) among several local authorities.
  • intransitive verb To bring about the redistribution of (an urban population and industry) to suburban areas.
  • intransitive verb To cause to withdraw or disperse from a center of concentration.
  • intransitive verb To undergo redistribution or dispersal away from a central location or authority.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To distribute or take away from a center, or a central situation or authority; disperse, as what has been brought together, concentrated, or centralized.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb to make less central; to prevent from centralizing; to cause to withdraw from the center or place of concentration; to divide and distribute (what has been united or concentrated); -- esp. said of authority, or the administration of public affairs.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To cause something to change from being concentrated at one point to being distributed across a number of points.
  • verb To reduce the authority of a governing body by distributing that authority among several bodies.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb make less central

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • Domscheit-Berg, a former spokesman for WikiLeaks who fell out with Assange, said the two websites and others soon to be launched could complement each other, helping to "decentralize" the whistleblowing process.

    WikiLeaks Rival Launches New Secret-Spilling Site AP 2011

  • I could go on and on about the internal contradictions of this document (for example, how does Stan the Man plan to "decentralize" and "Improve Unity of Effort and Command?"), but the simple fact is that you don't have to go past pillars 1 and 2 to realize that this isn't a credible strategy.

    Derrick Crowe: Gen. McChrystal's Assessment Ignores COIN Doctrine, Reality 2009

  • Domscheit-Berg, a former spokesman for WikiLeaks who fell out with Assange, said the two websites and others soon to be launched could complement each other, helping to "decentralize"

    chicagotribune.com - News 2011

  • Domscheit-Berg, a former spokesman for WikiLeaks who fell out with Assange, said the two websites and others soon to be launched could complement each other, helping to "decentralize"

    chicagotribune.com - News 2011

  • This would decentralize data and, in effect, merge databases, and their users, into a single, virtual space.

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • Did Berners-Lee, clearly a person of no little vision, foresee that, in just a few years, there would be a lot more to decentralize than telephone books and facility floor plans showing the visiting theoretical physicist the way from the coat room to the lab and, after a long morning among colliding protons, the optimal path to the closest WC?

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • This would decentralize data and, in effect, merge databases, and their users, into a single, virtual space.

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • Did Berners-Lee, clearly a person of no little vision, foresee that, in just a few years, there would be a lot more to decentralize than telephone books and facility floor plans showing the visiting theoretical physicist the way from the coat room to the lab and, after a long morning among colliding protons, the optimal path to the closest WC?

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • One, the decision to decentralize power away from the Speaker to empower the committee chairs which reverses the trend of the last several speakers, that's a good and practical and professional move.

    A Review Of The Midterm Elections 2010

  • One, the decision to decentralize power away from the Speaker to empower the committee chairs which reverses the trend of the last several speakers, that's a good and practical and professional move.

    A Review Of The Midterm Elections 2010

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