dealer

dealer — noun

1. someone whose job is buying and reselling a particular kind of product, often ho

1.nounB1
Definition

someone whose job is buying and reselling a particular kind of product, often holding stock and dealing with customers directly.

Example

Yumi bought her first violin from an antique dealer in Kyoto.

[product] + dealer (compound noun pattern)

Yara called the car dealer she had met last weekend to ask about hybrid models.

Common collocations
  • antique dealer
  • art dealer
  • car dealer
  • authorised dealer
  • wholesale dealer
  • second-hand dealer
Synonyms
  • trader

    broader; covers anyone who buys and sells, including stock or commodity traders

  • merchant

    more formal or old-fashioned; suggests larger-scale or wholesale business

  • retailer

    specifically sells to the public; a dealer may sell wholesale or retail

  • vendor

    emphasises the act of selling, often street-level or one-off, not stocking inventory

Antonyms
  • customer

    the buyer in the transaction

  • manufacturer

    the maker, who often supplies dealers rather than selling direct

Grammar Patterns

dealer in + noun

[product] dealer

Usage Note

Often forms compound nouns naming the product: 'car dealer', 'art dealer', 'antiques dealer'. When the product is mentioned with a preposition, use 'dealer in', not 'dealer of'.

Common Mistakes

My uncle is a dealer of used cars.
My uncle is a dealer in used cars.
use 'dealer in', not 'dealer of'.
She is a dealer.' (with no context)
She is an art dealer.
without a product, English speakers may assume sense 2 (drugs).

2. someone who illegally sells drugs such as heroin or cocaine, usually directly to

2.nounB2
Definition

someone who illegally sells drugs such as heroin or cocaine, usually directly to users on the street.

Example

Police arrested two dealers outside the nightclub on Friday night.

Tyler became a small-time dealer to pay off his gambling debts.

small-time + dealer (low-level operator)

Common collocations
  • drug dealer
  • small-time dealer
  • street dealer
  • convicted dealer
  • arrest a dealer
Synonyms
  • pusher

    informal; suggests aggressively persuading users to buy

  • trafficker

    operates at a larger, often international scale; moves drugs in bulk

  • supplier

    neutral; the person above the street dealer in the chain

Grammar Patterns

drug dealer

dealer + on the street/corner

Usage Note

Almost always understood as referring to illegal drugs when no product is named. Common compound: 'drug dealer'. Distinguish from sense 1 by context — sense 1 normally has a legal product spelled out.

Common Mistakes

He is a dealer in cocaine.' (sounds like a legal trade)
He is a cocaine dealer.
for illegal drugs, use the compound form, not 'dealer in'.

3. during a game such as poker or blackjack, the player or casino employee who hand

3.nounB2
Definition

during a game such as poker or blackjack, the player or casino employee who hands cards out to everyone at the table at the start of each round.

Example

Minh shuffled the deck and announced that he would be the dealer for the first hand.

be + the + dealer

At the blackjack table, the dealer wore a black waistcoat and white gloves.

Common collocations
  • the dealer shuffles
  • the dealer deals
  • act as dealer
  • casino dealer
  • blackjack dealer
Synonyms
  • croupier

    specifically a casino employee running a table game such as roulette or baccarat

  • banker

    in some games (e.g. baccarat), the player who holds the bank and deals

Antonyms
  • player

    anyone receiving cards from the dealer rather than dealing them

Grammar Patterns

the dealer

act as dealer

Usage Note

Usually appears with 'the' (the role at the table) or as a complement after 'be'/'act as'. In casinos the dealer is staff; in private games the role rotates between players.

Common Mistakes

I am dealer this round.
I am the dealer this round.
the role normally takes 'the'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All five describe someone who sells goods, but they differ in scale, register, and what they do with the stock. A 'dealer' typically specialises in one product (cars, art, antiques), holds inventory, and often represents a brand under contract. A 'trader' is broader and emphasises the act of buying and selling, including financial trading on a stock exchange — you can be a commodities trader without ever touching physical goods. 'Merchant' sounds older and more formal, and usually suggests a wholesale or large-scale operation, as in 'wine merchant'. A 'retailer' specifically sells to end consumers, while a dealer may sell to either businesses or the public. 'Vendor' focuses on the moment of selling and is often used for small, mobile operations such as a street vendor or a software vendor. So an authorised car dealer is not the same as a roadside used-car vendor, even if both move vehicles for cash.

dealer ↗trader ↗merchant ↗retailer ↗vendor ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • car dealer
  • art dealer
  • antique dealer
  • drug dealer
  • wholesale dealer
  • authorised dealer
  • casino dealer

Phrases

  • become a dealer
  • go to a dealer
  • buy from a dealer
  • the dealer deals the cards

Prepositions

  • dealer in (a product)
  • dealer for (a brand or manufacturer)

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

From the Old English verb 'dǣlan' meaning to divide or share out, which gave Middle English 'delen' (to distribute) and the noun 'deler' for someone who hands things out. By the late 1500s 'dealer' was already used both for a person who portions out cards in a game and, more generally, for someone who portions out goods in trade. The drug-seller meaning is much later, mainly twentieth-century slang from American English.