deal

• (UK) IPA^(key): /diːl/, [dɪə̯ɫ]
• (US) enPR: dēl, IPA^(key): /diːl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːl

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

deal (plural deals)

1. (obsolete) A division, a portion, a share.

   We gave three deals of grain in tribute to the king.

2. (often followed by of) An indefinite quantity or amount; a lot (now usually qualified by great or good).
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter xvij, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVIII:

     And so they alle bare hym vnto the hermytage / and vnarmed hym / and layd hym in his bedde / & euer more his wound bledde pytously / but he stered no lymme of hym / Thenne the knyghte heremyte put a thynge in his nose and a lytel dele of water in his mouthe / And thenne sir launcelot waked of his swoune / and thenne the heremyte staunched his bledynge

   • 1814 July, [Jane Austen], chapter II, in Mansfield Park: A Novel. In Three Volumes, volume I, London: Printed for T[homas] Egerton, […], OCLC 39810224, page 35:

     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.

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Ch.32:

     There is a deal of obscurity concerning the identity of the species thus multitudinously baptized.

   • 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 3, in Well Tackled!:

     “They know our boats will stand up to their work,” said Willison, “and that counts for a good deal. A low estimate from us doesn't mean scamped work, but just that we want to keep the yard busy over a slack time.”

   • 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:

     Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.

   Synonyms: batch, flock, good deal, great deal, hatful, heap, load, lot, mass, mess, mickle, mint, muckle, peck, pile, plenty, pot, quite a little, raft, sight, slew, spate, stack, tidy sum, wad, whole lot, whole slew

• (act of apportioning or distributing): allotment, apportionment, distribution, doling out, sharing, sharing out

• (indefinite quantity): a great deal, a good deal, big deal, real deal
• afterdeal
• foredeal
• half-deal
• ordeal

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

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

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.

   • 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, published 1880, page 51:

     Rome deals out her blessings and her gold.

2. (transitive) To administer or give out, as in small portions.
   • 1820, Sir Walter Scott, The Abbot, ch. 30:

     "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?"

   • 2011 April 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Norwich 2 - 1 Nott'm Forest”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Norwich returned to second in the Championship with victory over Nottingham Forest, whose promotion hopes were dealt another blow.

3. (transitive, intransitive) To distribute cards to the players in a game.

   I was dealt four aces.

   The cards were shuffled, and the croupier dealt.

4. (baseball) To pitch.

   The whole crowd waited for him to deal a real humdinger.

5. (intransitive) To have dealings or business.
   • 1838, Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. 11:

     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 leniently with him as justice would allow.

6. (intransitive) To conduct oneself, to behave.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.ii:

     In Deheubarth that now South-wales is hight, / What time king Ryence raign'd, and dealed right [...].

7. (obsolete, intransitive) To take action; to act.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book IV:

     Wel said syr Uwayne go on your waye, and lete me dele.

8. (intransitive) To trade professionally (followed by in).

   She deals in gold.

9. (transitive) To sell, especially to sell illicit drugs.

   This club takes a dim view of members who deal drugs.

10. (intransitive) To be concerned with.
    • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses, episode 14:

      Science, it cannot be too often repeated, deals with tangible phenomena.

11. (intransitive) To handle, to manage, to cope.
    • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, chapter 19:

      Then there was the sound of a struggle, and I knew that the attendants were dealing with him.

    I can't deal with this.

    I don't think he wants to go. — Yeah, well, we're going anyway, and he can deal.

• (distribute among a number of recipients): apportion, divvy up, share, share out, portion out
• (administer in portions): administer, allot, deal out, dish out, dispense, distribute, dole out, hand out, lot, mete out, parcel out, shell out
• (distribute (cards)):
• (baseball slang: to pitch): pitch, throw
• (have dealings with):
• (trade): sell, trade, bargain
• (sell (illicit drugs)): sell
• (be handled):
• (handle, cope):

• deal with
• dealer
• dealth
• dealy

deal (plural deals)

1. (archaic in general sense) 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.

3. A particular instance of buying or selling; a transaction

   We need to finalise the deal with Henderson by midnight.

   • 2014, Jamie Jackson, "Ángel di María says Manchester United were the ‘only club’ after Real", The Guardian, 26 August 2014:

     The deal, which overtakes the £50m paid to Liverpool by Chelsea for Fernando Torres in January 2011 as the highest paid by a British club, takes United’s summer spend to £130.7m, following the £27m spent on Luke Shaw, the £28m for Ander Herrera and £16m for Marcos Rojo.

4. Specifically, a transaction offered which is financially beneficial; a bargain.
   • 2009, The Guardian, Virginia Wallis, 22 Jul 2009:

     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.

5. An agreement between parties; an arrangement
   • 2009, Jennifer Steinhauer, New York Times, 20 Jul 2009:

     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.

   He made a deal with the devil.

6. (informal) A situation, occasion, or event.
   • 1996, Graham Yost, Broken Arrow:

     I've never killed anybody before. I don't see what's the big deal.

   What's the deal?

7. (informal) A thing, an unspecified or unidentified object.

   The deal with four tines is called a pitchfork.

• (cards held in a card game by a player at any given time): hand
• (instance of buying or selling): business deal, sale, trade, transaction
• (a beneficial transaction): steal, bargain
• (agreement between parties fixing obligations of each): contract, pact

From Middle English dele (“plank”), from Middle Low German dele, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *þiljǭ; cognate with Old English þille (Modern English thill).

deal (countable and uncountable, plural deals)

1. (uncountable) Wood that is easy to saw (from conifers such as pine or fir)
2. (countable) A plank of softwood (fir or pine board)
3. (countable, archaic) A wooden board or plank, usually between 12 or 14 feet in length, traded as a commodity in shipbuilding.
   • 1819, Charles Pope, Practical abridgement of the laws of customs and excise, 5th edition, page CCXLIII:

     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...

   • 1840, John Ramsey McCulloch, “Docks on the Thames (London)”, in A Dictionary Practical, Theoretical and Historical of Commerce and Commercial Navigation, Thomas Wardle, page 590:

     Swedish deals from ports in the Baltic

   • 2003, François Cardarelli, Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights, and Measures, page 52:

     1 deal (US) = 12 ft x 11 in. x 3/2 in. (E)

• (wood that is easy to saw, from conifers such as pine or fir):
• (plank of softwood):

deal (not comparable)

1. Made of deal.

   A plain deal table

   • 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 6

     She glanced round the kitchen. It was small and curious to her, with its glittering kissing-bunch, its evergreens behind the pictures, its wooden chairs and little deal table.

   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 47

     Through the open door you see a red-tiled floor, a large wooden bed, and on a deal table a ewer and a basin.

• Adel, Dale, Dela, E.D. La., Leda, adle, dale, lade, lead

Borrowed from English deal.

• IPA^(key): /diːl/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: deal

deal m (plural deals, diminutive dealtje n)

1. (informal) deal, a transaction or arrangement
2. (informal) a deal, a bargain (a favourable transaction)

• deel
• delen

deal

1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of del

From a Slavic language, ultimately from Proto-Slavic *dolъ. Compare Serbo-Croatian dol.

deal n (plural dealuri)

1. hill

• delușor

deal m (plural deales)

1. (business) deal