dis|tribu|tor /d I str I bjʊtə r / (distributors ) N‑COUNT A distributor is a company that supplies goods to shops or other businesses. [BUSINESS ] □ …Spain's largest distributor of petroleum products.
dis|tribu|tor|ship /d I str I bjʊtə r ʃ I p/ (distributorships ) N‑COUNT A distributorship is a company that supplies goods to shops or other businesses, or the right to supply goods to shops and businesses. [BUSINESS ] □ …the general manager of an automobile distributorship.
dis|trict ◆◆◇ /d I str I kt/ (districts )
1 N‑COUNT A district is a particular area of a town or country. □ I drove around the business district. □ …Nashville's shopping district.
2 N‑COUNT A district is an area of a town or country which has been given official boundaries for the purpose of administration. □ …the home of the governor of the district.
Di s|trict At|to r|ney (District Attorneys ) N‑COUNT In the United States, a District Attorney is a lawyer who works for a city, state, or federal government and puts on trial people who are accused of crimes. The abbreviation D.A. is also used.
di s|trict nu rse (district nurses ) N‑COUNT In Britain, a district nurse is a nurse who goes to people's houses to give them medical treatment and advice.
dis|trust /d I strʌ st/ (distrusts , distrusting , distrusted )
1 VERB If you distrust someone or something, you think they are not honest, reliable, or safe. □ [V n] I don't have any particular reason to distrust them.
2 N‑VAR [oft a N ] Distrust is the feeling of doubt that you have towards someone or something you distrust. □ [+ of ] What he saw there left him with a profound distrust of all political authority.
dis|trust|ful /d I strʌ stfʊl/ ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If you are distrustful of someone or something, you think that they are not honest, reliable, or safe. □ [+ of ] Voters are deeply distrustful of all politicians.
dis|turb /d I stɜː r b/ (disturbs , disturbing , disturbed )
1 VERB If you disturb someone, you interrupt what they are doing and upset them. □ [V n] I hope I'm not disturbing you.
2 VERB If something disturbs you, it makes you feel upset or worried. □ [V n] I dream about him, dreams so vivid that they disturb me for days.
3 VERB If something is disturbed , its position or shape is changed. □ [be V -ed] He'd placed his notes in the brown envelope. They hadn't been disturbed. □ [V n] She patted Mona, taking care not to disturb her costume.
4 VERB If something disturbs a situation or atmosphere, it spoils it or causes trouble. □ [V n] What could possibly disturb such tranquility?
dis|turb|ance /d I stɜː r bəns/ (disturbances )
1 N‑COUNT A disturbance is an incident in which people behave violently in public. □ During the disturbance which followed, three Englishmen were hurt.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Disturbance means upsetting or disorganizing something which was previously in a calm and well-ordered state. □ The home would cause less disturbance to local residents than a school.
3 N‑VAR You can use disturbance to refer to a medical or psychological problem, when someone's body or mind is not working in the normal way. □ Poor educational performance is related to emotional disturbance.
dis|turbed /d I stɜː r bd/
1 ADJ A disturbed person is very upset emotionally, and often needs special care or treatment. □ …working with severely emotionally disturbed children.
2 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ , oft ADJ that, ADJ to-inf] You can say that someone is disturbed when they are very worried or anxious. □ Doctors were disturbed that less than 30 percent of the patients were women.
3 ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe a situation or period of time as disturbed , you mean that it is unhappy and full of problems. □ …women from disturbed backgrounds.
dis|turb|ing /d I stɜː r b I ŋ/ ADJ Something that is disturbing makes you feel worried or upset. □ There was something about him she found disturbing. ● dis|turb|ing|ly ADV [usu ADV adj, ADV with v] □ …the disturbingly high frequency of racial attacks.
dis|unit|ed /d I sjʊna I t I d/ ADJ If a group of people are disunited , there is disagreement and division among them. □ …an increasingly disunited party.
dis|unity /d I sjuː n I ti/ N‑UNCOUNT Disunity is lack of agreement among people which prevents them from working together effectively. [FORMAL ] □ He had been accused of promoting disunity within the armed forces.
dis|use /d I sjuː s/ N‑UNCOUNT [oft into N ] If something falls into disuse , people stop using it. If something becomes worse as a result of disuse , it becomes worse because no one uses it. □ …a church which has fallen into disuse.
dis|used /d I sjuː zd/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] A disused place or building is empty and is no longer used. □ …a disused airfield near Maidenhead.
ditch /d I tʃ/ (ditches , ditching , ditched )
1 N‑COUNT A ditch is a long narrow channel cut into the ground at the side of a road or field.
2 VERB If you ditch something that you have or are responsible for, you abandon it or get rid of it, because you no longer want it. [INFORMAL ] □ [V n] I decided to ditch the sofa bed.
3 VERB If someone ditches someone, they end a relationship with that person. [INFORMAL ] □ [V n] I can't bring myself to ditch him and start again.