Word.ws English Dictionary

deal

/ˈdiːl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

South Asia/ˈɖiːl/

deal noun: a division, a portion, a share, a part, a piece.

Noun (1)

deal (plural deals)

  1. (obsolete) A division, a portion, a share, a part, a piece.
    • We gave three deals of grain in tribute to the king.
  2. (often) An indefinite quantity or amount; a lot (now usually qualified by great or good).
    • There is a vast deal of difference in memories, as well as in every thing else, and therefore you should make allowance for your cousin, and pity her deficiency.1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter II, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 35
    • There is a deal of obscurity concerning the identity of the species thus multitudinously baptized.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 32, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC

Verb

deal (third-person singular simple present deals, present participle dealing, simple past and past participle dealt or (nonstandard) dealed)

  1. (transitive) To distribute among a number of recipients, to give out as one’s portion or share.
    • The fighting is over; now we deal out the spoils of victory.
    • Rome deals out her blessings and her gold.a. 1740, Thomas Tickell, “An Epistle from a lady in England to a gentleman at Avignon”, in Charles Churchil, editor, The Poetical Works of Churchill, Parnell, and Tickell: With a Life of Each...
  2. (transitive) To administer or give out, as in small portions.
    • "Away, proud woman!" said the Lady; "who ever knew so well as thou to deal the deepest wounds under the pretence of kindness and courtesy?"1820, [Walter Scott], chapter 30, in The Abbot. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for...
    • Norwich returned to second in the Championship with victory over Nottingham Forest, whose promotion hopes were dealt another blow.2011 April 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Norwich 2 - 1 Nott'm Forest”, in BBC Sport
  3. (transitive) To take action with regard to someone or something.
  4. (ambitransitive) To distribute cards to the players in a game.
    • I was dealt four aces.
    • The cards were shuffled, and the croupier dealt.
  5. (transitive) deliver damage, a blow, strike or cut. To inflict.
    • The boxer was dealt a blow to the head.
    • This is a heavy-handed weapon attack that can be made with a two-handed weapon, that will deal damage equal to 4 times your size category2009, Jake Conner, Maverick, Strategy RPG: Core Rulebook, page 99
  6. To pitch.
    • The whole crowd waited for him to deal a real humdinger.
    Synonyms:
    pitch, throw
  7. (intransitive) To have dealings or business.
    • Mr. Brownlow contrived to state his case; observing that, in the surprise of the moment, he had run after the boy because he saw him running away; and expressing his hope that, if the magistrate should believe him, although not actually the thief, to be connected with thieves; he would deal as...1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], chapter 11, in Oliver Twist; […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC
    • When the spice flow stops, all eyes will turn to Arrakis. The Baron and the Emperor himself will be forced to deal with us.1984, 1:45:55 from the start, in Dune (Science Fiction), spoken by Paul Atreides, →OCLC
  8. (intransitive) To conduct oneself, to behave.
    • In Deheubarth that now South-wales is hight, / What time king Ryence raign'd, and dealed right [...].1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
  9. (intransitive, obsolete) To take action; to act.
    • Wel said syr Uwayne go on your waye, and lete me dele.1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book IV, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich]...
  10. (intransitive) To trade professionally (followed by in).
    • She deals in gold.
    Synonyms:
    sell, trade, bargain
  11. (ambitransitive) To sell, especially to sell illicit drugs.
    • This club takes a dim view of members who deal drugs.
    Synonyms:
    sell
  12. (intransitive) To be concerned with.
    • Science, it cannot be too often repeated, deals with tangible phenomena.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 14]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC
  13. (intransitive) To handle, to manage, to cope.
    • Then there was the sound of a struggle, and I knew that the attendants were dealing with him.1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC
    • I can't deal with this.

Noun (2)

deal (plural deals)

  1. (archaic, broadly) An act of dealing or sharing out.
  2. The distribution of cards to players; a player's turn for this.
    • I didn’t have a good deal all evening.
    • I believe it's your deal.
    Synonyms:
    hand
  3. A particular instance of trading (buying or selling; exchanging; bartering); a transaction.
    • We need to finalise the deal with Henderson by midnight.
    • recognizing the societal deal between capital and labor regarding retirement savings
  4. A transaction offered which is financially beneficial; a bargain.
    • You also have to look at the kind of mortgage deals available to you and whether you will be able to trade up to the kind of property you are looking for.2009, The Guardian, Virginia Wallis, 22 Jul 2009
    Synonyms:
    steal, bargain
  5. An agreement between parties; an arrangement.
    • California lawmakers, their state broke and its credit rating shot, finally sealed the deal with the governor Monday night on a plan to close a $26 billion budget gap.2009 July 20, Jennifer Steinhauer, New York Times
    • He made a deal with the devil.
    Synonyms:
    contract, pact
  6. (informal) A situation, occasion, or event.
    • What's the deal here?
    • Their new movie is the biggest deal of the year.
  7. (informal) A thing, an unspecified or unidentified object.
    • The deal with four tines is called a pitchfork.
    • Everything's invisible, I want to see something. Grace, soul, angels, God, the whole deal's invisible and the Bible could've been made up. Who knows?1965 January 11, Lou Sullivan, Diary
    Synonyms:
    dealy, thingy, whazzit
  8. (slang) A personality trait, especially a negative one, and the underlying cause of it.
    • What's her deal?
    • His whole deal is, you've got to be for it or against it, and you can't make it better.1990, National Archives and Records Administration, quoting Bill Clinton, George Bush: 1992-1993, page 1861

Noun (3)

deal (countable and uncountable, plural deals)

  1. (uncountable) Wood that is easy to saw (from conifers such as pine or fir).
    • Some Houses were […] entirely lock’d up, the Doors padlockt, the Windows and Doors having Deal Boards nail’d over them,1722, Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year, London: E. Nutt et al., p. 86
    • A brisk fire burned in the grate, there were three comfortable chairs, and a deal table with a water carafe, a bucket of coals, and a few other amenities.1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019
  2. (countable) A plank of softwood (fir or pine board).
  3. (archaic, countable) A wooden board or plank, usually between 12 or 14 feet in length, traded as a commodity in shipbuilding.
    • It shall not be lawful for any person to land any timber, planks or board, deals, staves, tar, pitch, turpentine, rozin or other the commodities aforesaid, on any part of the present quays within the city of Bristol, from any vessel coming into the said port...1819, Charles Pope, Practical abridgement of the laws of customs and excise, 5th edition, page CCXLIII
    • Swedish deals from ports in the Baltic1840, John Ramsey McCulloch, “Docks on the Thames (London)”, in A Dictionary Practical, Theoretical and Historical of Commerce and Commercial Navigation, volume 1, Thomas Wardle, page 590

Adjective

deal (not comparable)

  1. Made of deal.
    • A plain deal table
    • Deal table in the middle, plain chairs all round the walls, on one end a large shining map, marked with all the colours of a rainbow.1899 (please specify the page), Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part

Proper noun capitalized: Deal

Deal

  1. A coastal town and civil parish with a town council in Dover district, Kent, England (OS grid ref TR3752).
  2. A borough on the Jersey Shore, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, named after the Kentish town.
  3. An unincorporated community near Meyersdale, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States.
  4. A surname.

Phrase capitalized: DEAL

DEAL

  1. (abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of difficulty, execution, amplitude/altitude(height). landing

deal meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Telugu

deal in Hindi

instance of buying or selling — see also transaction
लेन-देन len-den

deal in Marathi

सौदा

deal in Urdu

instance of buying or selling — see also transaction
لین دین len den

deal in Telugu

డీల్
More languagesFewer languages
deal in Malayalam
കരാർ karāṟ, വ്യവസ്ഥ vyavastha
deal in Kannada
ಡೀಲ್
deal in Odia
ଡିଲ୍, ଡିଲ୍ କରନ୍ତୁ
deal in Sinhala
ගනුදෙනුව ganudenuwa
deal in Nepali
सौदा
deal in Arabic
اِتِّفَاقِيَّة ittifāqiyya
deal in Thai
แจกไพ่
deal in Vietnamese
chia bài

Examples of deal in a sentence

  • I don't think he wants to go. — Yeah, well, we're going anyway, and he can deal.
  • I didn't deserve it, but he cut me a deal.
  • to cut a deal, to cut deals
  • to cut a fantastic deal, to cut a raw deal
  • I don't think that's such a big deal.
  • “They know our boats will stand up to their work,” said Willison, “and that counts for a good deal.1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 3, in Well Tackled!:

All 40 example sentences with deal

Synonyms of deal

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of deal

Forms of deal

Noun
pluraldeals
Verb
third-person singular presentdeals
present participledealing
past participledealt
pastdealt
past participle (nonstandard)dealed
past (nonstandard)dealed

Past tense of deal: dealt

Plural of deal: deals

Origin of deal

From Middle English del, dele, from Old English dǣl (“part, share, portion”), from Proto-West Germanic *daili, from Proto-Germanic *dailiz (“part, deal”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰ(h₁)-oy-lo- (“part, watershed”). Cognate with Scots dele (“part, portion”), West Frisian diel (“part, share”), Dutch deel (“part, share, portion”), German Teil (“part, portion, section”), Danish, Slovene, and Swedish del (“part”), Icelandic deila (“division, contention”), Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃 (dails, “portion”). Related to Old English dāl (“portion”). More at dole.

From Middle English delen, from Old English dǣlan (“to divide, part”), from Proto-West Germanic *dailijan, from Proto-Germanic *dailijaną (“to divide, part, deal”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰoh₁-i-l- (“part, watershed”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian diele (“to divide, separate”), Dutch delen, German teilen, Swedish dela; and with Lithuanian dalinti (“divide”), Russian дели́ть (delítʹ).

From Middle English dele (“plank”), from Middle Low German dele, from Old Saxon thili, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *þiljǭ (“plank, board”); cognate with Old English þille. Doublet of (dialectal) theal and thill.

Words formed from deal

Phrases with deal

28 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with deal

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about deal

What does deal mean?
Deal means a division, a portion, a share, a part, a piece.
What is deal in Hindi?
Deal in Hindi is लेन-देन (len-den). See Deal meaning in Hindi.
How do you use deal in a sentence?
I don't think he wants to go. — Yeah, well, we're going anyway, and he can deal.
What part of speech is deal?
Deal can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce deal?
Deal is pronounced /ˈdiːl/.
What is the plural of deal?
The plural of deal is deals.

Words near deal in the dictionary

  1. deairs
  2. Deak
  3. Deakin
  4. Deakins
  5. Deaks
  6. deal
  7. deal a bad hand
  8. deal a good hand
  9. deal a hand
  10. deal board
  11. deal boards

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: deal (page history and authors); Deal (page history and authors); DEAL (page history and authors); deal (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); deal (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); deal (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); deal (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); deal (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “deal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/deal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.