Jump To:

• 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.

---

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.

---

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

---

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 )

---

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)

---

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

---

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

He abruptly sold the Lakers in August, in a deal that valued the team — not just Walter’s controlling interest — at $12.5 billion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

However, he accused Russia of ignoring the proposed deal within hours of it being announced.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

But that deal is widely seen as "not worth the paper it's printed on," said James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

France and Germany struck a deal aimed at safeguarding Europe’s struggling auto sector, including becoming more flexible with decarbonization rules and providing incentives for investment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

I would get her free, and then I’d deal with everything else.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

But expert opinion matters little to Trump, who wrote in his book "The Art of the Deal": “I don’t trust fancy marketing surveys. I do my own surveys and draw my own conclusions.”

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

WSJ | Buy Side: Shop the best Amazon Prime Big Deal Days sales, handpicked by our team of professional shoppers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Theagreement replaces the "Wheel Deal" system, which rotated the gala among major networks like ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Appeared in the September 29, 2026, print edition as 'AMD Sets $8 Billion Deal for AI Research Company'.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

“I’m sure we’re gonna have to have a difficult conversation someday, too. But...get better. Deal with those parents of yours.”

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

Big tech companies also have been building data centers in U.S. drilling fields to tap in to natural-gas supplies, cutting deals with oil-and-gas producers, utilities and pipeline firms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

It’s made 40 deals worth $20 billion so far this year, according to remarks recently made by CEO Dave Ricks, and it has two new weight-loss drugs nearing regulatory review.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026

Defra says that an average of £2.3bn a year is being invested through its farming schemes in England and insists it is protecting farmers in trade deals and also making supply chains fairer.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

The deals will allow Venture Global over time to make up to 10 gigawatts of computing capacity available at sites the company owns or controls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Farmer had imagined a portly, cigar-smoking type who made backroom deals with the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Her hair was falling out as she dealt with chronic nausea and vomiting, but doctors could not figure out what was causing her mysterious illness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

On Monday, the Lady Chief Justice found the Parades Commission properly dealt with a police assessment on the potential risk of disorder and gave adequate reasons for its decision.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

Service workers have always dealt with difficult customers, of course.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

That was dealt a blow by a Financial Times report saying OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, expected to make $50 billion in annualised revenue this year, far less than the $70 billion flagged previously.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

She slipped into the back of these gatherings—just a tired, heavy, middle-aged black woman searching for a place to rest her feet as she dealt with some bureaucratic runaround.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Rocket Lab once again is delaying the maiden launch of its Neutron rocket, dealing a major blow to investors.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026

"I understand there's other things that are going on, but you're not dealing with it down there, are you? It's going to get dealt with after the event anyway."

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

For 25 years I’ve been dealing with multiple sclerosis and assorted other maladies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Montalbo’s acne cleared up within a year after seeing a dermatologist, but she was still dealing with acne scars.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

“We’re all dealing with things, darling,” she said.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

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

---