dealer

dealer — noun

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

1.名詞B1
釋義

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

例句

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.

同義詞
  • 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

反義詞
  • customer

    the buyer in the transaction

  • manufacturer

    the maker, who often supplies dealers rather than selling direct

文法句型

dealer in + noun

[product] dealer

用法筆記

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'.

常見錯誤

❌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.名詞B2
釋義

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

例句

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)

同義詞
  • 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

文法句型

drug dealer

dealer + on the street/corner

用法筆記

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.

常見錯誤

❌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.名詞B2
釋義

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.

例句

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.

同義詞
  • 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

反義詞
  • player

    anyone receiving cards from the dealer rather than dealing them

文法句型

the dealer

act as dealer

用法筆記

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.

常見錯誤

❌I am dealer this round.
✅I am the dealer this round.
💡the role normally takes 'the'.