deal 
A very little thief of occasion will rob yon of a great 
deal of patience. &'**., Cor., H. 1. 
3. The division or distribution of cards in play- 
ing; the act or practice of dealing; the right 
or privilege of distributing the cards ; a single 
round, during which all the cards dealt at one 
time are played. 
How can the muse her aid impart, 
Unskill'd in all the terms of art, 
Or in harmonious numhers put 
The deal, the shuttle, ami the cut? 
Swift. 
4. Hence, a bargain or arrangement among a 
number of persons for mutual advantage as 
against others ; a secret commercial or politi- 
cal transaction for the exclusive benefit of those 
engaged in it: as, a deal in wheat or cotton; 
they made a deal for the division of the offices. 
[U.S.] 
The President had definitively abandoned the maxims 
and practices of a local manager of Machine politics in 
New York, with the shifts and expedients and deals which 
had illustrated his rise to political prominence. 
The Nation, XXXV. 411. 
deal 1 (del), v. ; pret. and pp. dealt, ppr. dealing. 
[< ME. delen (pret. delete, delte, dalte, dulte), < 
AS. dcelan = OS. delian = OFries. dela = D. 
deelen = MLG. delen, dcilen, LG. deten = OHG. 
teilan, teilen, MHG. teilen, Q. teilen, tkeilen = 
Icel. deila = Dan. dele = Sw. dela = Goth, dail- 
jan, divide, share (cf. OBulg. dcliti, divide); 
from the noun: see deal 1 , .] I. trans. 1. To 
divide ; part ; separate ; hence, to divide in por- 
tions; apportion; distribute, as, in card-play- 
ing, to give to each player the proper number 
of cards : often followed by out. 
Dele, to me my destine, & do hit out of honde. 
Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 2285. 
Theose two louves in me were dalt. 
Holy Jtood (E. E. T. S.), p. 143. 
The clay ye deal at Annie's burial 
The bread but and the wine ; 
Before the morn at twall o'clock, 
They'll deal the same at mine. 
Sweet Willie and Fair Annie (Child's Ballads, II. 139). 
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry? Isa. Iviii. 7. 
And Rome deals out her blessings and her gold. 
Tickcll. 
Hast thou yet dealt him, life, thy full measure? 
jiif. Arnold, A Modern Sappho. 
2t. To distribute to. 
God is word witnessith we shnln glue and dele oure enemys, 
And alle men that am nedy, as pore men and suche. 
Piers Plowman (A), xi. 237. 
3. To scatter; hurl; throw about; deliver: as, 
to deal out blows. 
Hissing through the skies, the feathery deaths were dealt. 
Dryden. 
He continued, when worse days were come, 
To deal about his sparkling eloquence. 
Wordsworth. 
Such blow no other hand could deal, 
Though gauntleted in glove of steel. 
Scott, L. of the L., v. 25. 
II. intrans. 1. To engage in mutual inter- 
course or transactions of any kind ; have to do 
with a person or thing, or be concerned in a 
matter: absolutely or with with or in. 
He turn'd his face unto the wall, 
And death was tnth him dealing. 
Bonny Barbara Allan (Child's Ballads, II. 156). 
I will deal with you as one should deal ipith his Con- 
fcssur. Uowell, Letters, I. vi. 60. 
The Chutes and I deal extremely together. 
Walpole, Letters, II. 67. 
Gad, I shall never be able to deal utith her alone. 
Slieridan, The Duenna, ii. 1. 
Specifically 2. To negotiate or make bar- 
gains ; traffic or trade : with a person, in arti- 
cles : as, he deals in pig-iron. 
Perlc praysed is prys, ther perre is schewed, 
Thag hym not derrest he denied to dele for penies. 
Alliterative Poeiw(eA. Morris), ii. 1118. 
The King [of Tonquin] buys great Guns, and some 
pieces of Broad cloath t but his pay is so bad, that Mer- 
chants care not to deal with him, could they avoid it. 
Dampier, Voyages, II. i. 65. 
Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely. Lev. xix. 11. 
They buy and sell, they deal and traffic. Smith. 
3. To negotiate corruptly; make a secret 
agreement ; conspire : with with. 
Fourteen Years after, Morton, going to execution, con- 
fess'd That Bothwell dealt imth him to consent to the 
Murder of the King. Baker, Chronicles, p. 337. 
Now have they dealt with my pothecary to poison me. 
B. Jmison, Poetaster, iv. 2. 
Therefore they imploy their Agents to deal privately 
with one of his Disciples who might be fittest for their 
design, and to work upon his covetous humour by the 
promise of a reward. Stillinyfleet, Sermons, I. vi. 
4. To intervene as a mediator or middleman. 
1472 
Sometimes he that deals between man and man raiseth 
his own credit with both by pretending greater interest 
than he hath in either. Bacon, Essays. 
5. To act ; behave : in a matter, with, by, or 
toward a person or thing. 
I mean therefor so to deall in it, as I maie wipe awaie 
that opinion of either vlicertaintie for confusion. 
Quoted in Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. lix. 
Such one deals not fairly by his own mind. Locke. 
deal 2 (del), n. [< MD. dele, D. deel, a board, 
plank, threshing-floor, = MLG. dele, LG. dele, 
a board, plank, floor of a room, also, in form 
dale, a threshing-floor, = OHG. dil, dilo, MHG. 
dil, dille, G. diele, a board, plank, -floor of 
boards, = Icel. tliilja = Dan. tilje = Sw. tttja 
= AS. tliel, a plank, thille, a board (cf. breda 
tltUing, translating L. area, a threshing-floor) 
(cf. Slov. dila = Pol. dyl = Little Russ. dyU, a 
board, deal prob. < OHG.), = OBulg. tUo = 
Skt. tola, ground (cf. L. tellus, the earth). The 
AS. word has suffered a similar restriction of 
meaning, being now E. tMll, the shaft or pole 
of a cart, etc. Thus deal 2 is a doublet of thill: 
see thill. The word deaf 2 is usually identified 
with deal 1 , a part, with the accommodated defi- 
nition "the division of a piece of timber made 
by sawing."] 1. A board or plank. The name 
deal is applied chiefly to planks of pine or flr above 7 inches 
in widtli and of various lengths exceeding 6 feet. If 7 
inches or less wide, they are called battens; and when 
under 6 feet long they are called deal-ends. The usual 
thickness is 3 inches, and width 9 inches. The standard 
size, to which other sizes may he reduced, is 2J inches 
thick, 11 inches broad, and 12 feet long. A whole deal is a 
deal which is Ii inches thick; a slit deal, one of half that 
thickness. The word is little used in the United States. 
I had little furniture, so I bought a cart-load of deals ; 
took a carpenter . . . into my service ; established him 
in a barn, and said, "Jack, furnish my house." 
Sydney Smith, in Lady Holland, vii. 
2. Wood of fir or pine, such as deals are made 
from : as, a floor of deal. 
A piece of deal, far thicker than one would easily ima- 
gine, being purposely interposed betwixt my eye placed in 
a room, and the clearer daylight, . . . appeared quite 
through a lovely red. Boyle, Colours. 
Red deal, the wood of the Scotch pine, I'inus sylvestris, 
a highly valuable and durable timber. 
dealbatet (de-al'bat), v. t. [< L. dcalbatus, pp. 
of dealbare, whiten, whitewash, plaster, parget, 
< de (intensive) + albarc, whiten, < albiis, white. 
See daub, which is from the same source.] To 
whiten. 
dealbate (de-al'bat), a. [< L. dealbatus, pp. : 
see the verb.] Whitened; especially, in bot., 
covered with a very white opaque powder, 
dealbationt (de-al-ba'shon), n. [< LL. *deal- 
batio(it-), < dealbare, whiten : see dealbate.'] The 
act of bleaching ; a whitening. Sir T. Browne. 
She hath made this cheek 
By much too pale, and hath forgot to whiten 
The natural redness of my nose ; she knows not 
What 'tis wants dealltatwn. 
Randolph, Muses Looking-glass, iv. 1. 
dealer (de'ler), . [< ME. 'dclerc, detore, < AS. 
dwlerc, a divider, distributer, < d&lan, divide, 
deal: seedeal 1 , .] 1. One who deals; onewho 
has to do or has concern with others ; specifi- 
cally, a trader ; one whose business is to buy 
and sell, as a merchant, shopkeeper, or broker : 
as, a dealer in general merchandise or in stocks ; 
a picture-(Zca/er. In law, a dealer is one who buys and 
sells the same articles in the same condition : thus, a 
butcher is not a dealer, because he buys animals whole, 
and sells them in a different state. 
These small dealers in wit and learning. Swift. 
The license to spirit merchants was termed a dealer'* 
license, dealer meaning, in excise language, a person sell- 
ing a certain statutory quantity at any one time. 
S. Darnell, Taxes in England, IV. 237. 
2. In card-playing, the player who distributes 
the cards. 
deal-fish (del'fish), re. An English name of the 
Trachypterus arcticns, a fish of the family Tra- 
Deal-fish ( Trachypterus 
chyptrrida;, from the resemblance of its dead 
body to a deal. It is found occasionally on the 
coasts of Orkney and Shetland. 
deal-frame (del'fram), n. A gang-saw for slit- 
ting deals or balks of pine timber. E. H. Kn tali t. 
dealing (de'ling), n. [< ME. dclinge, < AS. *'*e- 
lung (= D. deeling = OHG. hilnnga, MHG. tei- 
lunae, G. theilung = Icel. deiling = Dan. tlrlini/ ; 
cf. Sw. delning), < dailan, deal : see deal 1 , .] 1. 
Practice; doings; conduct; behavior. 
dean 
Concerning the dealings of men who administer govern- 
ment, . . . they have their judge who sitteth in heaven. 
llixilfi'i; Eccles. Polity, ii. 
Let's use the peace of honour, that's fair dealing, 
But in our ends our swords. Fletcher, Bonduca, i. 1. 
2. Conduct in relation to others; treatment: 
as, the dealings of a father with his children; 
God's dealings with men : usually in the plural. 
It is to be wished that men would promote the happi- 
ness of one another, in all their private dealings, among 
those who lie within their influence. Addison. 
Inevitably the established code of conduct in the deal- 
ings of Governments with citizens must be allied to their 
code of conduct in their dealiiifrs with one another. 
H. Spe-neer, Pop. Sci. Mo., XXV. 2. 
3. Intercourse in buying and selling; traffic; 
business: as, New York merchants have ex- 
tensive dealings with all the world. 
He was in his dealings as punctual as a tradesman, and 
as generous as a gentleman. Steele, Spectator, No. 109. 
4. Intercourse of business or friendship ; com- 
munication. 
How Is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me? 
... for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 
John iv. 9. 
dealt (delt). Preterit and past participle of 
tteali-. 
dealtht (delth), n. [< dean + -th; cf. heal, n., 
health, and weal, n., wealth.'] A dealing out; 
portion or division. Xares. 
Then know, Bellama, since thou aimst at wealth, 
Where Fortune has bestowd her largest dealth. 
Albino and Bellama (1638). 
deal-tree (del'tre), n. The fir-tree : so called 
because deals are commonly made from it. 
Deal-winet, n. See Dele-wine. 
deambulatet (de-am'bu-lat), v. i. [< L. deam- 
bulatus, pp. of deatnbulare, walk abroad, < de 
+ ambulare, walk: see ambulate, amble.] To 
walk abroad. 
deambulationt (de-am-bu-la'shon), n. [< L. 
deambulatio(-},(. dcambulare: see deambulate.] 
The act of walking abroad or about. 
Deambulations or moderate walkynges. 
Sir T. Elyot, The Governour, i. 15. 
deambulatoryt (de-am'bu-la-to-ri), n. and a. 
[< LL. deambulatorium, a gallery for walking, 
< L. deambulare, walk about: see deambidale.] 
1. n. A covered place to walk in ; specifically, 
the aisles of a church, or, more properly, an aisle 
carried around the apse and surrounding the 
choir on three sides ; a cloister or the like. 
Cloisters . . . called deambulatories, for the accommo- 
dation of the citizens in all weather. 
T. Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, II. 93. 
II. a. Strolling. 
The deambulatory actors used to have their quietus est. 
Bp. Morton, Episcopacy Asserted, p. 142. 
dean ' t (den), n. [Also dene 1 ; < ME. dene, < AS. 
denit, a valley : see de 2.] A small valley. 
dean 2 (den), n. [< ME. deen, dene, den, < OF. 
deien, mod. doyen = Pr. degua, dega = OSp. 
dean, Sp. decano = Pg. deSo = It. decano (G. 
dekan, dechant = D. deken), < LL. decamts, one 
set over ten (soldiers, monks, etc.), < L. decent 
= E. ten: see decimal, ten.] 1. An ecclesiasti- 
cal title in the Roman Catholic and Anglican 
churches, which has had several applications. 
Civil officials so called were known to the Roman law, and 
are mentioned in the codes of Theodosius and Justinian. 
The title was thence adopted for Christian use. In the 
monasteries, for every ten monks a decanus or dean was 
nominated, who had the charge of their discipline. The 
senior dean, in the absence of the abbot and provost, gov- 
erned the monastery ; and, since monks had the charge of 
many cathedral churches, the office of dean was thus in- 
troduced into them. Custom gradually determined that 
there should be only one dean in a cathedral, and he even- 
tually assumed the chief charge of its ecclesiastical and 
ritual concerns, especially in regard to the choir. He be- 
came also general assistant to the bishop. In the Roman 
Catholic Church, assistants of the bishop, termed rural 
deans, in France in former times often possessed, and in 
Germany in certain cases still possess, large powers of visi- 
tation, administration, and jurisdiction, so that their au- 
thority is almost equal to that of bishops. In the Church 
of England there are, besides the deans of the cathedrals, 
called deans of chapters, whose authority is next that of 
the bishop, rural deans, who are in effect assistants to the 
bishop, and whose duty it is to visit certain parishes in 
the diocese, and report on their condition to the bishop. 
Their functions at one time became almost obsolete, but 
they have been revived to some extent in recent times. 
The word is also applied in F.ngland to the chief officers 
of certain peculiar churches or chapels : as, the dean of 
the Icing's chajxl. In the Episcopal Church in America the 
presiding presbyter of the semi-official body known as a 
convocation, anil of the division of a diocese represented 
by this body, which division is also called a convocation 
and is in some respects analogous to the English rural 
deanery, is called a dean (the dean of convocation). 
'I'n sine a bishop, m:iy 1 name a /l>'a/i * 
1'ojie, Epil. t" Satires, ii. 33. 
2. In universities, originally, the head of a 
faculty (and most historical writers consider a 
