square deal, a
square deal
A fair, honest transaction, deal, or arrangement. The president said he will pull out of trade deal talks until he feels sure we are getting a square deal. We aren't looking to be paid or treated better than our peers—we just want a square deal. $300 for that crappy old computer? That doesn't sound like a square deal to me, dude.
See also: deal, square
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
square deal
a fair and honest transaction; fair treatment. All the workers want is a square deal, but their boss underpays them. You always get a square deal with that travel company.
See also: deal, square
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
square deal
A just, equitable arrangement or transaction, as in I know I'll get a square deal if I work with that supplier. This idiom uses square in the sense of "fair" or "honest," a usage dating from the 1300s. [Late 1800s]
See also: deal, square
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
a square deal
a fair bargain or treatment.Square here has the sense of ‘honest’, which as an adjective was associated originally with honourable play at cards. See also on the square (at square).
See also: deal, square
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
square deal, a
A fair and honest arrangement. Although square has been used to mean “equitable” since the fourteenth century, this expression became well known only in the early twentieth century, when Theodore Roosevelt made it the platform of his presidential campaign. “If elected, I shall see to it that every man has a square deal, no less and no more,” he said (Nov. 4, 1904).
See also: square
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- a square deal
- square deal
- deal out
- take the body
- make a deal (with one)
- make a deal with
- it takes two to make a bargain
- strike a deal
- deal stock
- drug deal