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

Businesses in Massachusetts are getting more creative to deal with the shortage of pennies. —Penny Kmitt, CBS News, 25 Nov. 2025

Lately, the star center has been dealing with knee soreness, which has kept him off the court for the past seven games. —Justin Grasso, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2025

Those charges were dismissed as part of his plea deal with prosecutors but were read into the court record for sentencing purposes. —Chris Ramirez, jsonline.com, 25 Nov. 2025

Fin was hospitalized from the beating and took a leave of absence to deal with the trauma from the altercation. —Michael Saponara, Billboard, 25 Nov. 2025