dicker

¹

[ dik-er ]

verb (used without object)

1. to deal, swap, or trade with petty bargaining; bargain; haggle.
2. to barter.
3. to try to arrange matters by mutual bargaining:

   They dickered for hours over some of the finer points of the contract.

noun

1. a petty bargain.
2. a barter or swap.
3. an item or goods bartered or swapped.
4. a deal, especially a political deal.

dicker

²

[ dik-er ]

noun

1. the number or quantity ten, especially a lot of ten hides or skins.

dicker

/ ˈdɪkə /

verb

1. to trade (goods) by bargaining; barter
2. intr to negotiate a political deal

noun

1. 1. a petty bargain or barter
   2. the item or items bargained or bartered
2. a political deal or bargain

Word History and Origins

Origin of dicker¹

An Americanism dating back to 1795–1805; perhaps verb use of dicker ²

Origin of dicker²

First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English diker, deker, from Old French dacre and Medieval Latin dikeria, dacra; ultimately from Latin decuria decury

Word History and Origins

Origin of dicker¹

C12: ultimately from Latin decuria decury ; related to Middle Low German dēker lot of ten hides

Example Sentences

All these filmmakers’ needy, importunate wooing of their writers — and their eventual dickering over script credit — makes their courtship of actual women such as Candice Bergen or Amy Irving look halfhearted by comparison.

From Los Angeles Times

But nothing said at this point can be separated from the bluffing and haggling and dickering central to such high-dollar negotiations.

From Los Angeles Times

Trouble was, Biden couldn’t make it clear to the public that he was willing to dicker — but only over the budget, not the nation’s credit-worthiness.

From Los Angeles Times

One reason is the endless, costly dickering among middlemen like Envision and UnitedHealth to make sure they get their share of the bucks sloshing around in the system.

From Los Angeles Times

That opened the process to almost infinite legal dickering.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• haggle