cut a deal

verb (used without object)

to occupy oneself or itself (usually followed by with or in ): Botany deals with the study of plants. He deals in generalities.

to take action with respect to a thing or person (followed by with ): Law courts must deal with lawbreakers.

to conduct oneself toward persons: He deals fairly.

to be able to handle competently or successfully; cope (followed by with ): I can't deal with your personal problems.

to trade or do business (followed by with or in ): to deal with a firm; to deal in used cars.

to distribute, especially the cards in a game (often followed by out ): to deal out five hands of six cards each; your turn to deal.

Slang. to buy and sell drugs illegally.

Archaic. to have dealings or commerce, often in a secret or underhand manner (often followed by with ): to deal with the Devil.

verb (used with object)

to give to one as a share; apportion: Deal me in.

10.

to distribute among a number of recipients, as the cards required in a game: Deal five cards to each player.

11.

Cards. to give a player (a specific card) in dealing: You dealt yourself four aces.

12.

to deliver; administer: to deal a blow.

13.

Slang. to buy and sell (drugs) illegally.

14.

Slang. to trade (an athlete) to another team.

00:10

Cut a deal is always a great word to know.

So is callithumpian. Does it mean:

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

noun

15.

a business transaction: They closed the deal after a week of negotiating.

16.

a bargain or arrangement for mutual advantage: the best deal in town.

17.

a secret or underhand agreement or bargain: His supporters worked a number of deals to help his campaign.

18.

Informal. treatment received in dealing with another: He got a raw deal.

19.

an indefinite but large quantity, amount, extent, or degree (usually preceded by good or great ): a good deal of work; a great deal of money.

20.

Cards.

the distribution of cards to the players in a game.

the set of cards in one's hand.

the turn of a player to deal.

the period of time during which a deal is played.

21.

an act of dealing or distributing.

22.

( initial capital letter ) an economic and social policy pursued by a political administration: the Fair Deal; the New Deal.

23.

Obsolete. portion; share.

Verb phrases

24.

deal off,

Poker. to deal the final hand of a game.

Slang. to get rid of or trade (something or someone) in a transaction.

Idioms

25.

cut a deal, Informal. to make an agreement, especially a business agreement: Networks have cut a deal with foreign stations for an international hookup.

26.

deal someone in, Slang. to include: He was making a lot of dough in the construction business so I got him to deal me in.

Origin:
before 900; (v.) Middle English delen, Old English dǣlan (cognate with German teilen), derivative of dǣl part (cognate with German Teil); (noun) in part derivative of the v.; (in defs 19 and 23) Middle English deel, del(e), Old English dǣl

Synonyms
3. act, behave. 5. traffic. 10. allot, assign, dole; mete, dispense. 16. pact, contract.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To cut a deal

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World English Dictionary

deal¹ (diːl)

—vb (foll by in) , deals, dealing, dealt
1.	to engage (in) commercially: to deal in upholstery
2.	(often foll by out) to apportion (something, such as cards) to a number of people; distribute
3.	(tr) to give (a blow) to (someone); inflict
4.	slang (intr) to sell any illegal drug

—n
5.	informal a bargain, transaction, or agreement
6.	a particular type of treatment received, esp as the result of an agreement: a fair deal
7.	an indefinite amount, extent, or degree (esp in the phrases goodorgreat deal)
8.	cards
	a. the process of distributing the cards
	b. a player's turn to do this
	c. a single round in a card game
9.	See big deal
10.	informal chiefly (US) cut a deal See also deal with to come to an arrangement; make a deal
11.	informal the real deal a person or thing seen as being authentic and not inferior in any way

[Old English dǣlan, from dǣl a part; compare Old High German teil a part, Old Norse deild a share]

deal² (diːl)

—n
1.	a plank of softwood timber, such as fir or pine, or such planks collectively
2.	the sawn wood of various coniferous trees, such as that from the Scots pine (red deal) or from the Norway Spruce (white deal)

—*adj*
3.	of fir or pine

[C14: from Middle Low German dele plank; see thill]

Deal (diːl)

—n
	a town in SE England, in Kent, on the English Channel: two 16th-century castles: tourism, light industries. Pop: 96 670 (2003 est)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

deal

from O.E. dæl "part, share, quantity," and its verbal derivative dælan "to divide," from P.Gmc. *dailaz; also found in Balto-Slavic (cf. O.C.S. delu "part," Lith. dalis). Meaning "to distribute cards before a game" is from 1520s; business sense 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." To deal with "handle" is attested from mid-15c. Deal breaker is attested by 1975.

deal

"plank or board of pine," c.1400, from Low Ger. (cf. M.L.G. dele), from P.Gmc. *theljon. An O.E. derivative was þelu "hewn wood, board, flooring."

Slang Dictionary

cut a deal definition

tv.
to arrange a deal; to seal a bargain. : Maybe we can cut a deal. Let's talk.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

cut a deal

Offer or arrange an agreement or compromise, as in The administration is hoping to cut a deal with Japan. This expression uses deal in the sense of "business transaction." [Colloquial; 1970s]

Matching Quote

"Them old masters, when they got mad, had no mercy on a nigger—they'd cut a nigger all up in a hurry—cut 'em all up into strings, just leave the life, that's all. I've seen 'em do it, many a time."

-Sylvia Dubois

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