dicker

[dik-er] Origin

dick·er

1[dik-er]
verb (used without object)
1.
to deal, swap, or trade with petty bargaining; bargain; haggle.
2.
to barter.
3.
to try to arrange matters by mutual bargaining: They dickered for hours over some of the finer points of the contract.
noun
4.
a petty bargain.
5.
a barter or swap.
6.
an item or goods bartered or swapped.
7.
a deal, especially a political deal.

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Dicker is one of our favorite verbs.
So is absquatulate. Does it mean:
to flee; abscond:
to spend time idly; loaf.

Origin:
1795–1805; perhaps v. use of dicker2
Dictionary.com Unabridged

dick·er

2[dik-er]
noun
the number or quantity ten, especially a lot of ten hides or skins.

Origin:
1225–75; Middle English diker < Old French dacre, Medieval Latin dikeria; compare Latin decuria decury
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
dicker (ˈdɪkə)
 
vb
1.  to trade (goods) by bargaining; barter
2.  (intr) to negotiate a political deal
 
n
3.  a.  a petty bargain or barter
 b.  the item or items bargained or bartered
4.  a political deal or bargain
 
[C12: ultimately from Latin decuriadecury; related to Middle Low German dēker lot of ten hides]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

dicker
"haggle, bargain in a petty way," 1802, Amer.Eng., perhaps from dicker (n.) "a unit or package of tens," especially hides (attested from c.1275), probably from L. decuria "parcel of ten" (supposedly a unit of barter on the Roman frontier), from decem "ten" (see ten).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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