deployment

noun

de·​ploy·​ment di-ˈplȯi-mənt 

plural deployments

: the act or movement of deploying or the state of being deployed: such as

a

: placement or arrangement (as of military personnel or equipment) in position for a particular use or purpose

deployment of troops

deployment of a sales force

U.S. military assistance for hurricane relief efforts has delayed the deployment of additional forces to Afghanistan, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

—Reuters

… memories of the peace protests that in the 1980s greeted the deployment of nuclear-armed cruise missiles on Greenham Common in Berkshire.

—Tim Luckhurst

also : an instance of such placement (as in a battle zone) for a period of time

On breaks from his job as a guard at the prison Camp Bucca, Iraq … during his last deployment, in 2007, James would retreat to the camp's sand-swept outdoor court and try to perfect his shot.

—Kelli Anderson

b

: an instance of use that involves something opening and spreading out

a pilot's deployment of a parachute after ejecting from the cockpit

These components work together to fully deploy the air bag within 50 milliseconds of impact. After deployment, the air bag will deflate in approximately 100 milliseconds.

—Martin W. Stockel et al.

Examples of deployment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That may mean taking a closer look at the business justification for AI use cases and focusing on high-value deployments. —Eric Miquelon, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

And its realization will require the deployment of 21st-century technology. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024

Trump has vowed to use the National Guard and other parts of the military to round up as many as 11 million foreign nationals, despite U.S. law that forbids the deployment of armed forces against civilians. —Eric Cortellessa, TIME, 5 Nov. 2024

North Korea and Russia haven’t explicitly confirmed the North Korean deployment. —Hyung-Jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French déploiement, from déployer "to unfurl, spread out, deploy" + -ment -ment

First Known Use

1781, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing deployment

• counter-deployment