dealer
Americannoun
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dealers
plural
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
Citi upgraded Harley-Davidson to Buy, citing improving retail sales and dealer sentiment, with the returning Sportster offering another potential boost.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
After paying a deposit, a dealer sent a flatbed carrying Michigan’s first Topolino.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
“It’s real bad,” said Michael DiFeo, a New Jersey Cadillac dealer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
His father, Francisco, worked in a shoe factory and later as an antiques dealer.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
The dealer tapped a flashlight against the palm of his hand.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
Indirect bidders, which include foreign institutions, took more than 80% of the issue, while primary dealers were left with just 2.5%.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
As a reporter for the Sunday World newspaper, he had built a reputation for stories which exposed paramilitaries and drug dealers operating in Northern Ireland.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Fiat, which initially shipped 300 Topolinos to the U.S., says 30% of its dealers are signed up to sell the pint-size car.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Analysts said traders were presented with a "Goldilocks" batch of figures that provided a fillip to equities on Wall Street as the dealers revised lower the likelihood of a second successive interest rate hike.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
Lenders will raise their standards; rating agencies will take a closer look; and no dealers in their right mind will sell insurance on subprime mortgage bonds at anything like the prices they’ve been selling it.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
