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

While hardware like GPUs and inference chips garners attention, software services account for nearly 70% of total deployment costs. —John Werner, Forbes.com, 5 Apr. 2025

Homebuilder Lennar is partnering with Dandelion Energy in metro Denver on what the companies say will be one of the country’s largest residential deployments of geothermal heating and cooling. —Judith Kohler, Denver Post, 3 Apr. 2025

The Pentagon extended the deployment of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier strike group and ordered a second flotilla to the Middle East, Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed Tuesday. —Davis Winkie, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2025

Efimov, Rogers, and collaborators believe that further advancements could allow the deployment of multiple devices across the heart. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 2 Apr. 2025

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

Rhymes for deployment

• employment
• enjoyment
• preemployment
• redeployment
• reemployment
• unemployment
• underemployment