ALL meanings of complementary distribution
com·ple·men·ta·ry dis·tri·bu·tion
C c - noun complementary distribution a relation such that the members of a pair or set of phones, morphs, or other linguistic units have no environment in common, as aspirated “p” and unaspirated “p” in English, the first occurring only in positions where the second does not. 1
- noun complementary distribution (phonetics) the distribution of phones in their respective phonetic environments such that one never appears in the same phonetic context as the other. 0