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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

Amazon’s 2024 deal with X-energy was a turning point for the sector, said Michael Johnson, managing director for JPMorgan Chase’s security and resiliency initiative.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

"What they can't deal with is this, so we have to make sure there is a far wider response."

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

But it remains unclear if a deal is imminent.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

That could be a big deal because companies typically depreciate their chips over four to six years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Elliot winced at the words package deal, and I knew it was because I was part of that particular package.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

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

And the new World Cup edition of its Monopoly Deal card game comes with no packaging at all—the case that holds the cards does the job on its own.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Jews and Democrats share an honorable history from FDR’s New Deal to civil rights.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

The Pegulas picked up the property in 2010 for $6.5 million, according to The Real Deal.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

Kyle wondered what the sound effects would be if he and his friends lost their library cards playing Let’s Do a Deal.

From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein

The report listed ABS deals and the houses among the examples.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

The Evo has a $159.99 list price, though Target is currently selling it for $85.99 and other retailers are offering deals as well.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

The team started falling behind in resources and revenue compared to other organizations that controlled their own arenas and media deals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

In the shrewd balance of his alliance with Moscow and Beijing, he has no need to make any sort of deals with Washington.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

Without the double-paned glass between us, we were both a little nervous, and our waves were low, stiff, halfhearted-type deals.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

A federal judge dealt a blow to Meta just days before a blockbuster trial where the company is accused of developing products that are addictive to children.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

In the podcast, he praised Farage's media skills but said he had not dealt well with questions over his personal finances and needed to be better prepared.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

“They move faster than anyone I’ve ever dealt with, especially in hardware, which typically moves really slowly,” O’Shaughnessy said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

It’s no secret that Hollywood has dealt with a significant production downturn since the end of the streaming content boom three years ago.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

As Resch had said, it would be dealt with at a proper time.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

During World War 2, the military created a training film to help soldiers who may be dealing with "combat irritability".

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Weiman told AFP that the rules of engagement for dealing with settlers were rarely explained, with soldiers told to refer to police due to their status as Israeli citizens.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

Kirkpatrick has come through dealing with adversity stronger and prepared for whatever lies ahead.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

Local officials have tried to assure residents that they are dealing with a major player in AI, not a fly-by-night operator.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Besides, this ghost did not seem like a very nice person at all, and Ophie was getting awfully tired of dealing with rude people.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

Related Words

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