seal the deal
Americanidiom
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to complete or successfully negotiate an agreement.
If our top executive can't seal the deal, no one can.
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to secure or ensure a successful conclusion: A last-minute goal sealed the deal for Baltimore.
He had aced both interviews, and if the director liked him that would seal the deal.
A last-minute goal sealed the deal for Baltimore.
Etymology
Origin of seal the deal
First recorded in 1950–55
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.
Stocks that have rocketed higher on expectations of huge spectrum sales could easily fall to Earth unless they seal the deal soon.
From Barron's • Jun. 15, 2026
Usually it was your management record, and your relative success with the respective budgets you'd been given, that would seal the deal.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
Inter didn't roll over, with Federico Dimarco and substitute Pio Esposito both going close with angled drives, but Gyokeres struck on the break to seal the deal and allow fans to look ahead to United.
From Barron's • Jan. 20, 2026
That the film contains one of the year’s finest performances may seal the deal for more serious viewers.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2025
And as if to seal the deal, instead of learning to play electric guitar, I’d gone and chosen the cello.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
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.
