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• deal
  deal

  noun

  a business transaction.
• Deal
  Deal

  noun

  a town in SE England, in Kent, on the English Channel: two 16th-century castles: tourism, light industries. Pop: 96 670 (2003 est)

deal

¹ American  

[deel] / dil /

noun

1. a business transaction.

   They closed the deal after a week of negotiating.

2. a bargain or arrangement for mutual advantage.

   the best deal in town.

   Synonyms:

   contract, pact

3. a secret or underhanded agreement or bargain.

   His supporters worked a number of deals to help his campaign.

4. Informal. treatment received in an interaction or arrangement with another.

   He got a raw deal.

5. an indefinite but large quantity, amount, extent, or degree (usually preceded by good orgreat ).

   a good deal of work;

   a great deal of money.

6. Cards.

   1. the distribution of cards to the players in a game.

   2. the set of cards in one's hand.

   3. the turn of a player to distribute the cards to the players.

   4. the period of time during which a hand, or set of cards, is played.

7. an act of handing out or distributing.

8. (initial capital letter) an economic and social policy pursued by a political administration.

   the Fair Deal;

   the New Deal;

   the Green New Deal.

9. Obsolete. portion; share.

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verb (used without object)

• deals,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dealt,
  past participle,  past
• dealing
  present participle

1. to occupy oneself or itself (usually followed by with orin ).

   Botany deals with the study of plants.

   He deals in generalities.

2. to take action with respect to a thing or person (followed bywith ).

   Law courts must deal with lawbreakers.

3. to conduct oneself toward persons.

   He deals fairly.

   Synonyms:

   behave, act

4. to be able to handle competently or successfully; cope (followed bywith ).

   I can't deal with your personal problems.

5. to trade or do business (followed by with orin ).

   to deal with a firm;

   to deal in used cars.

   Synonyms:

   traffic

6. to distribute, especially the cards in a game (often followed byout ): It's your turn to deal.

   She dealt out five hands of six cards each.

   It's your turn to deal.

7. Slang. to buy and sell drugs illegally.

8. Archaic. to have dealings or commerce, often in a secret or underhanded manner (often followed bywith ).

   to deal with the Devil.

verb (used with object)

• deals,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dealt,
  past participle,  past
• dealing
  present participle

1. to give to one as a share; apportion.

   Deal me in.

2. to distribute among a number of recipients, as the cards required in a game.

   Deal five cards to each player.

   Synonyms:

   dispense, mete, dole, assign, allot

3. Cards. to give a player (a specific card) in dealing.

   You dealt yourself four aces.

4. to deliver (an action or a judgment) on or upon someone; administer: Did you see the cat dealing a blow to a dog five times its size?

   As a repeat offender, she can expect to be dealt a harsh sentence.

   Did you see the cat dealing a blow to a dog five times its size?

5. Slang. to buy and sell (drugs) illegally.

6. Slang. to trade (an athlete) to another team.

verb phrase

1. deal off

   1. Poker. to deal the final hand of a game.

   2. Slang. to get rid of or trade (something or someone) in a transaction.

idioms

1. deal someone in, to include.

   He was making a lot of dough in the construction business so I got him to deal me in.

2. seal the deal. see seal the deal.

3. cut a deal, to make an agreement, especially a business agreement.

   Networks have cut a deal with foreign stations for an international hookup.

deal ² American  

[deel] / dil /

noun

1. a board or plank, especially of fir or pine, cut to any of various standard sizes.

2. such boards collectively.

3. fir or pine wood.

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adjective

1. made of deal.

deal ¹ British  

/ diːl /

verb

1. to engage (in) commercially

   to deal in upholstery

2. (often foll by out) to apportion (something, such as cards) to a number of people; distribute

3. (tr) to give (a blow) to (someone); inflict

4. slang (intr) to sell any illegal drug

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noun

1. informal a bargain, transaction, or agreement

2. a particular type of treatment received, esp as the result of an agreement

   a fair deal

3. an indefinite amount, extent, or degree (esp in the phrases good or great deal )

4. cards

   1. the process of distributing the cards

   2. a player's turn to do this

   3. a single round in a card game

5. See big deal

6. informal to come to an arrangement; make a deal See also deal with

7. informal a person or thing seen as being authentic and not inferior in any way

deal ² British  

/ diːl /

noun

1. a plank of softwood timber, such as fir or pine, or such planks collectively

2. the sawn wood of various coniferous trees, such as that from the Scots pine ( red deal ) or from the Norway Spruce ( white deal )

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adjective

1. of fir or pine

Deal ³ British  

/ diːl /

noun

1. a town in SE England, in Kent, on the English Channel: two 16th-century castles: tourism, light industries. Pop: 96 670 (2003 est)

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deal More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing deal

• big deal
• close the sale (deal)
• cut a deal
• done deal
• good deal
• make a federal case (big deal)
• no deal
• raw deal
• square deal
• sweeten the kitty (deal)
• wheel and deal

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• dealing
  present
• dealt
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• deal
  simple
• deals
  simple
• have dealt
  perfect
• has dealt
  perfect
• am dealing
  progressive
• are dealing
  progressive
• is dealing
  progressive
• have been dealing
  perfect progressive
• has been dealing
  perfect progressive

Past

• dealt
  simple
• had dealt
  perfect
• was dealing
  progressive
• were dealing
  progressive
• had been dealing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will deal
  simple
• will have dealt
  perfect
• will be dealing
  progressive
• will have been dealing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of deal¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English verb delen, dalen, dealen “to separate, divide, share, have dealings,” Old English dǣlan (cognate with German teilen “to divide, share”), derivative of dǣl “part, portion” (cognate with German Teil ); Middle English noun del, dæl, deal, Old English dǣl; in part derivative of the verb

Origin of deal²

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English dele, dile, from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch dele; see thill

Explanation

"Let's make a deal," a friend might say to you. That means he wants to make an agreement on something. If you pay for the gas, for example, he'll pay for the food. What a deal! Ready to deal with all the meanings of the word deal?! You can deal a deck of cards. You can make a business deal. You can strike a deal. You can try to deal with an unfortunate situation. You can score a deal in the bargain basement. Deal comes from the Old English dǣlan, meaning "divide" and "participate."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

deal Deal deals dealt dealing

However, Alvarez returned to training with the Spanish side and, despite Arteta's best efforts laying out plans to the player, the deal did not come off.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Chevron was nearing a deal to make a big investment in Venezuela, which is home to some of the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

The company on Wednesday said the deal adds two new heavy oil fields to its Petroindependencia joint venture with state-run Petróleos de Venezuela.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Also on transfer deadline day, Everton signed Jack Grealish on a season-long loan deal from Manchester City.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Altogether that made a good deal of traffic in and out of my small bedroom—smaller now indeed by nearly a yard.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Deal activity intensified as investment bankers worked the weekend ahead of another “merger Monday.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

As I recounted in my book “The New Deal: A Modern History,” Smith’s keynote speech at the league gala was broadcast on a national radio hookup.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

Deal, N.J., draws wealthy New Yorkers looking for a quick commute and upscale living.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Deal critic Alvaro Bedoya, a former Federal Trade Commission member who is now a senior adviser at the American Economic Liberties Project, offered a conflicting view.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

I wish they were gummy worms because that’s my favorite but I Deal With It.

From "Mockingbird" by Kathryn Erskine

Flash forward another decade and it remains to be seen whether maternal mental healthcare — including the central question of how American society deals with mothers in extremis — has evolved.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

Similar deals at Audi and Porsche brought German job losses negotiated by Blume’s team to 50,000, out of a global workforce of around 680,000 at the end of 2024.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Three others have reached plea deals and agreed to testify for the government, including Banks’ former personal assistant Kavon Grant, who has since turned on his boss.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

While some tie-in with school holidays, other deals are all year round.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Deutsche Bank’s CDO machine paid Hubler the 28 basis points he craved and, in December 2006 and January 2007, cut two deals, of $2 billion each.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

There were also videos of sailors discussing how they dealt with the mission.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Seething at his dad for poking at his body insecurities, the comedian dealt with his emotions like any good millennial — by podcasting about it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

Pascal Gross then headed in a 96th-minute consolation goal after a dangerous long throw-in was not dealt with.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

The commission conceded a procedural error in how it dealt with the annual application for permission to walk along the Garvaghy Road.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

She hadn't dealt with the police much around the Morrison murder and didn't have useful information pointing to their misconduct, aside from being able to show how they were provoked by her relationship with Walter.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Maddie and Avery moved back from New York to help out as their mother tried to keep Little Flower going while dealing with dislocation and a nightmarish battle with her insurance company.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

Besides promoting economic growth, US priorities this year include dealing with "global imbalances" and sovereign debt challenges, a senior US Treasury official told reporters ahead of talks.

From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026

That’s without even dealing with the fact that Canada has 10 provinces and three territories, all with distinct identities, except perhaps for Saskatchewan.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026

BBC News spoke to three serving prison governors in England to gauge the state of correctional facilities and how staff are dealing with overcrowding.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

“Do you remember when we weren’t dealing with a new natural disaster every week?”

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Related Words

• accord
• arrangement
• compromise
• contract
• pact
• pledge
• transaction