dealings
noun
Dealings — the ongoing transactions and exchanges between two parties
Definition
Social or verbal interchange (usually followed by `with')
In depth
Dealings is social or verbal interchange, typically used in the phrase 'dealings with,' describing the ongoing business, transactions, or interactions a person or party has had with another. The word implies a history, however brief, rather than a single isolated encounter, and often carries a faint suggestion of caution or formality.
Origin
The word descends from the verb 'deal,' from Old English dælan, to divide or distribute, related to 'deal' in the sense of an agreement or transaction. Its plural form, 'dealings,' developed to describe the accumulated sum of such transactions over time, the word's grammar itself suggesting a history built from many small distributions and exchanges.
Usage examples
"Their dealings with the contractor had grown increasingly tense over the course of the renovation."
"He preferred to keep his dealings with the press to a careful minimum."
"The family's dealings with the bank stretched back three generations, through prosperity and ruin alike."
How to use it
Dealings almost always appears in the construction 'dealings with,' and suits formal, business, or cautiously neutral descriptions of ongoing relationships, particularly where some tension, complexity, or professional distance is implied.
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