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deal

/ˈdiːl/
nounverbadjective

DEAL scores 5 points in Scrabble, rearranges into LEAD, DALE and LADE, and sits one letter from 24 other valid words.

NWL Collins ENABLE

Noun 4 meanings

  1. An indefinite quantity or amount; a lot (now usually qualified by great or good).

  2. The distribution of cards to players; a player's turn for this.

    “I didn’t have a good deal all evening.”

  3. A particular instance of trading (buying or selling; exchanging; bartering); a transaction.

    “We need to finalise the deal with Henderson by midnight.”

  4. A transaction offered which is financially beneficial; a bargain.

Verb 4 meanings

  1. 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.”

  2. To administer or give out, as in small portions.

  3. To take action with regard to someone or something.

  4. To distribute cards to the players in a game.

    “I was dealt four aces.”

Adjective 1 meaning

  1. Made of deal.

    “A plain deal table”

Definitions: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA) via Kaikki/Wiktextract

Where it comes from

Etymology

From Middle English del, dele, from Old English dǣl (“part, share, portion”), from Proto-West Germanic *daili, from Proto-Germanic *dailiz (“part, deal”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰ(h₁)-oy-lo- (“part, watershed”).

Similar and opposite words

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DEAL is a short word with long reach. As a noun it covers an agreement, a hand of cards and a large amount, as in a great deal. The Scrabble score is low, but the flexibility is high: three anagrams and 24 neighbours.

DEAL, quickly

  • DEAL has four letters: D, E, A, L.
  • Its tiles total 5 points, 2 of them from the D.
  • Anagrams are LEAD, DALE and LADE.
  • It ranks 451 in frequency, with a count of 174,929.

How many words are one letter away from DEAL?

There are 24. REAL, DEAD, DEAR, MEAL, DEAN and SEAL show how many ways you can change a single position. Almost all of them are common words you can use in a pinch.

That makes DEAL a useful hook word: add a letter to the front or the end and the board often opens up.

Short words with this many neighbours keep a crowded board flowing, since almost any tile you hold can replace one of the four letters and still make a word.

What does DEAL mean?

The noun covers an agreement, the giving out of cards and an indefinite quantity, usually qualified by great or good. The verb means to hand something out or to handle it.

Rhymes include REAL, APPEAL, MEAL, IDEAL and REVEAL.

The card sense is the one most players think of first, since a game starts with the deal. The agreement sense is the one newspapers lean on.

How rare is a four-letter D start?

Of the 5,577 four-letter words, 323 start with D, about 6 percent, and 252 end in L, around 5 percent. Check your game’s word list before using LADE, the least familiar of the three anagrams.

Because three anagrams share the same four tiles, DEAL is a good rack-clearing word: LEAD, DALE and LADE all use the same letters, so you can switch between them as the board changes.

Rhymes with deal

All rhymes

One letter away

Change one letter, keep the rest

Questions people ask

What are the anagrams of deal?
DEAL has three anagrams: LEAD, DALE and LADE. LEAD is the one most players recognise, DALE means a valley, and LADE is a less common verb.
How many points is deal worth in Scrabble?
DEAL scores 5 points on tiles. D is worth 2 and E, A and L are worth 1 each. All three of its anagrams score the same 5.
How common is the word deal?
DEAL is very common. It ranks 451 in the frequency list with a count of 174,929 and a Zipf score of 5.32, which makes it a staple of everyday writing and speech.

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