Deal

Deal. (1) (A common Teutonic word for a part or portion, cf. Ger. Teil, and the Eng. variant “dole”), a division or part, obsolete except in such phrases as “a great deal” or “a good deal,” where it equals quantity or lot. From the verb “to deal,” meaning primarily to divide into parts, come such uses as for the giving out of cards to the players in a game, or for a business transaction. (2) (Also a Teutonic word, meaning a plank or board, cf. Ger. Diele, Dutch deel), strictly a term in carpentry and joinery for a sawn plank, usually of pine or fir, 9 in. wide and 2 to 4½ in. thick. (See Joinery.) The word is also used more loosely of the timber from which such deals are cut, thus “white deal” is used of the wood of the Norway spruce, and “red deal” of the Scotch pine.