a good deal

English

Etymology

From deal (“(obsolete) division, portion, share”)

Pronunciation

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Adverb

a good deal (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) Very much; to a great extent; a lot; lots.

   We had a good deal more money afterwards.

   • 1865, Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 5: Advice from a Caterpillar,

     She was a good deal frightened by this very sudden change, but she felt that there was no time to be lost, as she was shrinking rapidly: so she set to work at once to eat some of the other bit.

Synonyms

• a great deal

Noun

a good deal (uncountable)

1. (idiomatic) A large amount; a lot.

   He made a good deal of trouble for us.

   • 1838, Edgar Allan Poe, How to Write a Blackwood Article:

     You may make a good deal of that little fact if properly worked.

   • M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated by Mahadev Desai, Part I, chapter xvi^[1]:

     A friend suggested that, if I really wanted to have the satisfaction of taking a difficult examination, I should pass the London Matriculation. It meant a good deal of labour and much addition to my stock of general knowledge, without any extra expense worth the name. I welcomed the suggestion. But the syllabus frightened me. Latin and a modern language were compulsory!

Synonyms

• a great deal