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”). Compare Middle English desployen, dysployen (“to unfold, display”). Doublet of display.
1
Ergative To prepare and arrange (originally military unit or units, i.e., to array troops) for use.
"Deploy two units of infantry along the enemy's flank," the general ordered.
deploy some lifeguards on the beach
4 more examples
Teachers can deploy a wide range of resources in their classrooms.
The carriage, which was at full gallop, stopped suddenly; the guards deployed round, and Mademoiselle alighted. She advanced with the step of an empress, till she came beside the Queen, when, dropping on her knee, she kissed the hem of her robe, and then the royal hand.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 293:
EMR will deploy 18 of the 21 '360s' in daily service, operating them in 12-car formations at peak times.2019 October, Tony Miles, Philip Sherratt, “EMR kicks off new era”, in Modern Railways, page 53:
It is unlikely City will play that deep consistently going forward, but it was interesting to see such an attacking manager like Guardiola deploy a shape without a recognised striker, given his previous quotes about the formation.2025 September 21, Shamoon Hafez, “Guardiola gamble almost pays off as Liverpool cash in”, in BBC Sport:
2
To unfold, open, or otherwise become ready for use.
He waited tensely for his parachute to deploy.
deploy the airbag
2 more examples
The airbag will deploy on collision.
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.2012 December 26, John Branch, “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Nov 2013:
3
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences 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.
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”). Compare Middle English desployen, dysployen (“to unfold, display”). Doublet of display.
Rolling back the bad deploy will usually solve the immediate production problem, but your team isn't done yet.2021, James Shore, Shane Warden, The Art of Agile Development, page 433: