deuce

noun

ˈdüs 

also ˈdyüs

plural deuces

1

a(1)

: the face of a die that bears two spots

(2)

: a playing card bearing an index number two

b

: a throw of the dice yielding two points

2

: a tie in tennis after each side has scored 40 requiring two consecutive points by one side to win

3

a

: devil, dickens

—used chiefly as a mild oath

what the deuce is he up to now

b

: something notable of its kind

a deuce of a mess

4

informal : the fecal matter expelled during one bowel movement

—usually used in the phrase drop a deuce

If you live in new dorms and you need to drop a deuce in private, just walk down to the first floor and use the bathroom that is traditionally reserved for parents and visitors.

—Veronica Sirotic

Examples of deuce in a Sentence

She beat her opponent after eight deuces.

Recent Examples on the Web

Now, the implication here is that the mountain lion ripped a deuce on Dabney's guest house. —Matt Reigle Outkick, FOXNews.com, 23 May 2026

Each match in the 2026 version will include four singles sets — two men’s and two women’s —with deciding points at deuce, followed by a mixed doubles tiebreak, played to 10 points. —Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 19 May 2026

The Highlanders trailed by five points midway through the game before both teams battled for side-outs in a long deuce set. —Justin Vigil Zuniga, Daily News, 10 May 2026

High Point's Chase Johnston hit four massive triples — and one crucial, unexpected deuce — on Thursday that moved him up in the college record books. —Andrew Greif, NBC news, 19 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English dwsse, dews, dewes, borrowed from Anglo-French deus "two" (continental Old French dous, masculine accusative), going back to Latin duōs, accusative of duo; (sense 3) perhaps of independent origin; (sense 4) probably alluding to number two — more at two entry 1

Note: In expressions such as "a deuce on him," "a deuce take me," current from the 1650's, deuce is clearly a euphemism for "devil." The reason for the choice of deuce rather than another word has inspired several explanations, none entirely satisfactory. The editors of the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, apparently following an article by A. L. Mayhew (The Academy, vol. 41, no. 1030, January 30, 1892, pp. 11-12) propose that deuce was borrowed from Low German duus in the same sense: "compare German daus, Low German duus, used in precisely the same way, in the exclamatory der daus! was der daus …! Low German de duus! wat de duus!" A Low German source is not specified by the editors, but Daus is entered in Grimm's Deutsches Wörterbuch with the meaning "deuce" in cards and dice, and as a euphemism for "devil" (Teufel, Low German Düvel). The parallel with English deuce is noted, but there is no suggestion that the English word was borrowed from German. This is indeed a weakness of Mayhew's hypothesis: the parallelism connecting the two languages does not necessarily imply borrowing of the word itself, and borrowing would not in any case explain why in particular duus/daus developed a secondary meaning.

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Phrases Containing deuce

• a deuce of
• a deuce of a time

Rhymes for deuce

• coos
• cruce
• douce
• duce
• goose
• hoose
• juice
• loose
• mousse
• noose
• nous
• sluice

Kids Definition

deuce

noun

ˈd(y)üs

1

a

: the face of a die that bears two spots

b

: a playing card bearing the number two

c

: a throw of dice resulting in two points

2

: a tie in tennis after each side has scored 40

3

: devil entry 1 sense 1, dickens

—used chiefly as a mild oath

Etymology

from early French deus "two," from Latin duos (same meaning), from duo "two" — related to dual