dealer
Americannoun
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a person who buys and sells articles without altering their condition; trader or merchant, especially a wholesaler.
I got a dealer's discount on this coat.
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Cards. the player distributing the cards.
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a person who behaves or acts toward another or others in a specified manner.
a plain dealer.
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Slang. a person who buys and sells drugs illegally.
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a person who buys securities for their own account and retains them until sold to another.
noun
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a person or firm engaged in commercial purchase and sale; trader
a car dealer
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cards the person who distributes the cards
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slang a person who sells illegal drugs
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dealer
First recorded before 1000; Middle English delere, Old English dǣlere. See deal 1, -er 1
Explanation
Anyone whose job (or hobby) involves buying and reselling something is a dealer. If you buy candy in bulk and sell it to your friends at a profit, you can call yourself a candy dealer. Sometimes this term implies that the goods being sold are illegal or illicit. It's even more commonly used to describe people who sell art, cars, or antiques. If you play poker with your friends and it's your turn to hand out the cards, you're also a dealer. This meaning, a player who passes out the cards in a game, dates from 1600.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dealer inventories for Ram and Jeep were 115 and 130 days of sales, exceeding the U.S. industry average of 76 days.
From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026
For Chris Quinn, the editor of local publications Cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer, AI tools have helped tame other torrents facing the industry.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
Dealer systems were intermittently unavailable, and suppliers faced cancelled or delayed orders, with uncertainty about future supply.
From BBC • Oct. 22, 2025
His journalism career began at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, but then he was drafted into the Army and posted in Alaska, serving from 1966 to 1968.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 19, 2024
Cleveland’s largest newspaper, the Plain Dealer, usually supportive of spirit investigation, this time suggested that Benjamin’s spirit, “shut up until you have something to offer worth listening to.”
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
