deal with

British  

verb

1. to take action on

   to deal with each problem in turn

2. to punish

   the headmaster will deal with the culprit

3. to be concerned with

   the book deals with Dutch art

4. to conduct oneself (towards others), esp with regard to fairness

   he can be relied on to deal fairly with everyone

5. to do business with

   the firm deals with many overseas suppliers

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deal with Idioms  

1. See deal in , def. 1.

2. Do business with someone, as in I like dealing with this company . [Late 1600s] Also see deal in , def. 2.

3. Take action in, handle, administer, dispose of, as in The committee will deal with this matter . [Second half of 1400s]

4. Act in a specified way toward someone, as in He dealt extremely fairly with his competitors . [c. 1300]

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Example Sentences

Experts say dumping in the desert has always been a problem, but the law made it worse by making it more expensive and difficult to deal with.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2026

There are too many companies collecting too much data for us to deal with them all.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 23, 2026

The EU has signed a deal with South America, the Mercosur deal, which gives access to EU car exporters to Brazil, the world's sixth biggest market, at zero tariffs, versus 35% for the UK.

From BBC • Jun. 23, 2026

“If you were enjoying the huge runs up that we were getting, this is what you have to deal with from time to time.”

From MarketWatch • Jun. 23, 2026

It was a huge ask, something you might try to trick a stranger into and hope for the best rather than deal with yourself.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith