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Glite Dictionary
to deal a hand

to deal a hand

1 3.3
To give each player a set of cards in a card game
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : repartir cartas
  • At birth, we're dealt a hand of cards.

Examples

  • The dealer will deal a hand to each player at the start of the game.

  • We're all dealt a hand.

    The Choice (2016)

  • "Yeah, we deal a hand or two."

    Fiction book (1999)

  • You deal a hand like that to me, pal, we got problems.

    From a Whisper to a Scream (1987)

  • Never dealt a hand like that before.

    Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964)

  • ♪ ♪ But fate deals a hand And I see ♪ ♪ The joker is me ♪ ♪ The joker is me ♪ ♪ The joker ♪ ♪ Is me ♪ Yeah.

    Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)

  • Before starting the game, we need to deal a hand of cards to everyone around the table.

  • In poker, players take turns to deal a hand and reveal their cards.

Synonyms

to deal out
vsto deal a hand
3 3.2

To give things to several people, often one by one, like cards

applies only when giving each player a set of cards in a game

Antonyms

to collect
499 1.1

To bring things or people together in one place

to withhold
210 5.1

Refuse to give something someone wants or needs

How Formal

to allocate
92 4.5
to distribute
87 2.0
to deal a hand
1 3.3
to give
∞ 1.0
to hand out
165 1.8

Surface Forms

deal a hand infinitive
dealing a hand present participle
deals a hand third person singular
dealt a hand past
dealt a hand past participle

Morphology

deal + a + hand

The meaning is directly derivable from 'deal' (to hand out) combined with 'hand' (the cards a player holds); together they compose the action of handing out cards to players. This is a regular, compositional collocation in card-playing contexts and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent senses.

Etymology

Deal a hand comes from card games. To deal is to give out cards and a hand is the set of cards a player holds, so deal a hand means 'to give each player a set of playing cards'.