deploy

Etymology

Borrowed from French déployer (“to unroll, unfold”), from Old French desploiier, itself from des- + ploiier, or possibly from Late Latin displicāre (“to unfold, display”), from Latin dis- (“apart”) + plicare (“to fold”). Doublet of display.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈplɔɪ/

Verb

deploy (third-person singular simple present deploys, present participle deploying, simple past and past participle deployed)

1. (transitive) To prepare and arrange (usually military unit or units) for use.

   "Deploy two units of infantry along the enemy's flank," the general ordered.

2. (transitive, intransitive) To unfold, open, or otherwise become ready for use.

   He waited tensely for his parachute to deploy.

   • 2012, John Branch, “Snow Fall : The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in New York Time‎:

     At first she thought she would be embarrassed that she had deployed her air bag, that the other expert skiers she was with, more than a dozen of them, would have a good laugh at her panicked overreaction.

3. (computing) To install, test and implement a computer system or application.

   The process for the deployment scenario includes: building a master installation of the operating system, creating its image and deploying the image onto a destination computer.

Noun

deploy (plural deploys)

1. (military, dated) deployment

References

Further reading

• deploy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• deploy in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• deploy at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• ployed, podley, polyed