deal with

phrasal verb

dealt with; dealing with; deals with

1

: to be about (something) : to have (something) as a subject

Her speech dealt with health care and the nation's economy.

The film deals with some serious issues.

2

: to make business agreements with (someone)

He deals fairly with all his customers.

Their salespeople are very easy to deal with.

3

: to do something about (a person or thing that causes a problem or difficult situation)

The government dealt harshly with the rebels.

I'll deal with you later.

We weren't able/equipped/prepared to deal with such a large crowd of people.

4

: to accept or try to accept (something that is true and cannot be changed)

She's still trying to deal with his death.

The weather is bad, but we'll just have to deal with it.

Examples of deal with in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Tucker’s $60 million average annual value would be the second-highest in baseball history, not factoring discounting, behind Shohei Ohtani’s $70 million in his 10-year deal with the Dodgers that runs through 2033. —Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 16 Jan. 2026

Their return is happening about a month ahead of schedule; NASA decided to end Crew-11 early to deal with a medical issue experienced by one of the astronauts on orbit. —Josh Dinner, Space.com, 15 Jan. 2026

Dent shot 0 for 6 from the floor while dealing with foul trouble and Booker was limited to 12 minutes. —Daily News, 15 Jan. 2026

Ngatikaura then went on to talk about some of the other things she's dealt with in the weeks following her surgery. —Tabitha Parent, PEOPLE, 15 Jan. 2026