to seal the deal
22
4.0
- phrasal verb
- /siːl ðə diːl/
- Informal
:
cerrar el trato
- You ought to seal the deal before she gets wise.
- help seal the deal
- handshake seals the deal
- want to seal the deal
And then you might have sealed the deal within a week.
- And then you might have sealed the deal within a week.
- And that might have helped seal the deal.
Examples
-
After months of negotiation, they finally met to seal the deal on the partnership agreement.
-
And then you might have sealed the deal within a week.
-
-If you want to seal the deal, just do what I ask.
-
Can you seal the deal and leave?
-
I was about to seal the deal when you came over.
-
Your meeting may open the door for you, but following up will help seal the deal.
Academic text (2010) -
So you've laid the groundwork perfectly to seal the deal tonight.
-
So here's a simple mantra to embrace: to seal the deal, make it real.
Blog text (28) -
The team worked hard to secure the contract, hoping to seal the deal before the deadline.
-
The final signature was all they needed to seal the deal and officially start the project.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To finish an event, meeting, or activity
94
3.5
Make an agreement after talking, often in business or politics
70
6.0
Officially approve an agreement, law, or decision
50
3.9
To make a formal agreement with others
38
5.1
To finally get something after a long effort
35
3.0
Decide together after talking about the terms
22
3.3
Finish the last small details to complete something
20
3.4
To agree with someone after talking about the details
10
4.3
Officially agree to something by writing your name on a document
7
3.9
Agree to a deal by holding and moving someone's hand
5
5.8
To sign a contract or agreement formally
4
2.5
To accept the conditions of a contract or service
1
3.4
Successfully get a business agreement or contract
How Final
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to finalize or confirm an agreement' is directly and transparently built from 'seal' (to make final/close) plus 'deal' (an agreement), so a learner who knows those words can infer the idiomatic meaning. This construction is a common, cross-linguistic metaphor (making an agreement 'official' or 'sealed'), and the determiner 'the' does not affect compositionality, making it immediately comprehensible at B1.
Etymology
The idiom seal the deal comes from old business papers that were closed with hot wax or a stamp to show the agreement was finished. To seal a deal was to lock it, so that's why seal the deal today means to 'finalize' or 'confirm' an agreement.