Quietly distribute bulb (7)
I believe the answer is:
shallot
'bulb' is the definition.
(shallot is a kind of bulb)
'quietly distribute' is the wordplay.
'quietly' becomes 'sh'.
'distribute' becomes 'allot' ('allot' can be a synonym of 'distribute'**).
'sh'+'allot'='SHALLOT'
(Other definitions for shallot that I've seen before include "Scallion" , "Species of onion" , "Small onion" , "Type of onion" , "Type of 12" .)