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)

dealt, dealing

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)

dealt, dealing

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. 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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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; 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

The e-commerce giant said Tuesday that it will acquire Globalstar, a satellite company focused on providing service to areas where coverage is minimal, in a deal set to close next year.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

Somnigroup said the deal would continue its vertical integration strategy, enabling closer collaboration between component engineering and mattress design.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

He also said, “Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026

Amazon’s stock eased 0.3% in recent midday trading after running up 3.8% on the deal news to close Tuesday just 2% shy of its Nov. 3 record close of $254.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

“See, part of my deal with Mom and Dad, to get to go to the FBI with you, was that I wasn’t allowed to say anything while we were there.”

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

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