DEALER (dealer)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: dealer   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dealer mean? 

• DEALER (noun)
  The noun DEALER has 5 senses:

1. someone who purchases and maintains an inventory of goods to be sold

2. a firm engaged in trading

3. a seller of illicit goods

4. the major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own account

5. the person who distributes the playing cards in a card game

  Familiarity information: DEALER used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEALER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who purchases and maintains an inventory of goods to be sold

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

bargainer; dealer; monger; trader

Hypernyms ("dealer" is a kind of...):

merchandiser; merchant (a businessperson engaged in retail trade)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dealer"):

draper (a dealer in fabrics and sewing materials (and sometimes in clothing and drygoods))

stock trader (someone who buys and sells stock shares)

stamp dealer (a dealer in stamps (whose customers are stamp collectors))

slop-seller; slopseller (a dealer in cheap ready-made clothing)

seedman; seedsman (a dealer in seeds)

mercer (a dealer in textiles (especially silks))

hardwareman; ironmonger (someone who sells hardware)

horse trader (a hard bargainer)

fishmonger; fishwife (someone who sells fish)

fence (a dealer in stolen property)

cutler (a dealer in cutlery)

barrow-boy; barrow-man; costermonger (a hawker of fruit and vegetables from a barrow)

cheesemonger (someone who sells cheese)

bibliopole; bibliopolist (a dealer in secondhand books (especially rare or curious books))

barterer (a trader who exchanges goods and not money)

art dealer (a dealer in works of art requiring esthetic evaluation)

Derivation:

deal (do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood)

dealership (a business established or operated under an authorization to sell or distribute a company's goods or services in a particular area)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A firm engaged in trading

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("dealer" is a kind of...):

business firm; firm; house (the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dealer"):

computer dealer (a firm that sells and buys computers)

jewelry dealer; jewelry store (a firm that sells and buys jewelry)

truck dealer (a firm that sells and buys trucks)

car dealer (a firm that sells and buys cars)

Derivation:

deal (do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood)

deal (sell)

dealership (a business established or operated under an authorization to sell or distribute a company's goods or services in a particular area)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A seller of illicit goods

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

a dealer in stolen goods

Hypernyms ("dealer" is a kind of...):

marketer; seller; trafficker; vender; vendor (someone who promotes or exchanges goods or services for money)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dealer"):

drug dealer; drug peddler; drug trafficker; peddler; pusher (an unlicensed dealer in illegal drugs)

Derivation:

deal (sell)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The major party to a financial transaction at a stock exchange; buys and sells for his own account

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

dealer; principal

Hypernyms ("dealer" is a kind of...):

financier; moneyman (a person skilled in large scale financial transactions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dealer"):

broker-dealer (a financial specialist who trades for his own account and so acts both as a broker and principal)

Derivation:

deal (do business; offer for sale as for one's livelihood)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The person who distributes the playing cards in a card game

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("dealer" is a kind of...):

card player (someone who plays (or knows how to play) card games)

Derivation:

deal (distribute cards to the players in a game)

deal (give (a specific card) to a player)

 Context examples 

‘Gone to the dealer’s, Jem.’

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The tables were deserted, and the dealers and gamekeepers came forth to see the outcome of the wager and to lay odds.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

He had found out, at Yarmouth, some foreign dealers who knew that country, and they had drawn him a rude map on paper, which he could very well understand.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A drive of an hour brought us to the picture-dealer’s establishment.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Three of them are receipted hay-dealers’ accounts.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I’ve a bill against her for nearly a hundred pounds, and nothing to show for it but a couple of trumpery pendants that the dealer would hardly look at.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A wild-type zebrafish line, the stock of which was obtained from an Indonesian fish dealer.

(Indonesia Zebrafish, NCI Thesaurus)

A wild-type zebrafish line, the stock of which was obtained from a fish dealer in Honk Kong, China.

(Hong Kong Zebrafish, NCI Thesaurus)

You make the dealer with blood little bit warm in face. (I was delighted.) The lookout, you make him lean forward in his chair.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

"I said don't break them teeth," the faro-dealer repeated more ominously than before.

(White Fang, by Jack London)