deal
pronunciation
How to pronounce deal in British English:
UK [diːl]
How to pronounce deal in American English:
US [diːl]
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- Noun:
- a particular instance of buying or selling
- an agreement between parties (usually arrived at after discussion) fixing obligations of each
- (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
- a plank of softwood (fir or pine board)
- wood that is easy to saw (from conifers such as pine or fir)
- the cards held in a card game by a given player at any given time
- the type of treatment received (especially as the result of an agreement)
- the act of distributing playing cards
- the act of apportioning or distributing something
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- Verb:
- deal with verbally or in some form of artistic expression
- take action with respect to (someone or something)
- take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
- come to terms or deal successfully with
- administer or bestow, as in small portions
- do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood
- be in charge of, act on, or dispose of
- behave in a certain way towards others
- distribute to the players in a game
- direct the course of; manage or control
- give out as one's portion or share
- give (a specific card) to a player
- sell
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- Adjective:
- made of fir or pine
Word Origin
- deal
- deal: English has two words deal. The one which now means chiefly ‘distribute’ goes back to Old English dǣl ‘part’ and its verbal derivative dǣlan ‘divide’. The noun (together with its relatives German teil, Dutch deel, and Gothic dails) goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *dailiz, a derivative of the base *dail-, which also produced English dole and ordeal. The ultimate source of this base is not known. Deal ‘(plank of) pine’ [14] was borrowed from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German dele.=> dole, ordeal
- deal (n.1)
- from Old English dæl "part, share, quantity, amount," from Proto-Germanic *dailaz (cognates: Old Norse deild, Old Frisian del, Dutch deel, Old High German and German teil, Gothic dails "part, share"), from PIE *dail- "to divide" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic delu "part," Lithuanian dalis). Business sense of "transaction, bargain" is 1837, originally slang. Meaning "an amount" is from 1560s. New Deal is from F.D. Roosevelt speech of July 1932. Big deal is 1928; ironic use first recorded 1951 in "Catcher in the Rye." Deal breaker is attested by 1975.
- deal (n.2)
- "plank or board of pine," c. 1400, from Low German (compare Middle Low German dele), from Proto-Germanic *theljon, from PIE root *tel- "ground, floor." An Old English derivative was þelu "hewn wood, board, flooring."
- deal (v.)
- Old English dælan "to divide, distribute, separate, share, bestow, dispense," from the source of deal (n.). Meaning "to distribute cards before a game" is from 1520s. To deal with "handle" is attested from mid-15c. Related: Dealt; dealing.
Example
- 1. Deal sizes have also shrunk .
- 2. The bank confirmed the deal .
- 3. This deal requires regulatory approval .
- 4. But deal specifics differ greatly .
- 5. Nato commanders in neighbouring afghanistan expressed concern at the deal .