Meanings
plural dealings
- in pluralA business transaction.
- One's manner of acting toward others; behaviour; interactions or relations with others.
Shylock: O father Abram, what these Christians are, Whose own hard dealings teaches them suspect The thoughts of others![…]
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of deal
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe act of transacting within or between groups (as carrying on commercial activities)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishdǣling
- Middle Englishdelynge
- Englishdealing
From Middle English delynge, from Old English dǣling; equivalent to deal + -ing.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with dealing
Anagrams
Cite this entry
dealing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dealing
“dealing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dealing. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dealing,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dealing.
Source: dealing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.