deuce

1 of 2

noun

ˈdüs How to pronounce deuce (audio)
 also  ˈdyüs
plural deuces
1
a(1)
: the face of a die that bears two spots
(2)
: a playing card bearing an index number two
b
: a throw of the dice yielding two points
2
: a tie in tennis after each side has scored 40 requiring two consecutive points by one side to win
3
a
: devil, dickens
used chiefly as a mild oath
what the deuce is he up to now
b
: something notable of its kind
a deuce of a mess
4
informal : the fecal matter expelled during one bowel movement
usually used in the phrase drop a deuce
If you live in new dorms and you need to drop a deuce in private, just walk down to the first floor and use the bathroom that is traditionally reserved for parents and visitors.Veronica Sirotic

deuce

2 of 2

verb

deuced; deucing

transitive verb

: to bring the score of (a tennis game or set) to deuce

Examples of deuce in a Sentence

Noun She beat her opponent after eight deuces.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
West can win and lead the king of diamonds, but South wins and leads his deuce of clubs to dummy’s five. Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 9 Mar. 2024 Her first serve at deuce was initially called out by chair umpire Pierre Bacchi, but the world No. 3 had expected to be awarded the point after a successful challenge. George Ramsay, CNN, 22 Feb. 2024 Dummy next leads the king of spades: ace, deuce, five. Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 3 Mar. 2024 The minor-suit game looked safe, but when West led the deuce of spades, East won with the ace and returned the four! Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2024 Today’s West led the queen of spades against 3NT: four, six, deuce. Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 13 Feb. 2024 Medvedev continued pressurizing Sinner at the beginning of the second, forcing him to serve out a marathon game featuring five deuces but, somehow, the young Italian held out before conceding the break in his next service game. Issy Ronald, CNN, 28 Jan. 2024 West took the queen and shifted to the ten of spades: deuce, jack, ace. Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 16 Jan. 2024 The two parties are playing one of the longest deuce games since the founding. George Packer, The Atlantic, 11 Dec. 2023
Verb
The last game of the set was the best of the final, hard-fought, going to deuce three times. Gerald Marzorati, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2024 With Alcaraz serving and seemingly on his way to a routine hold at 40-15, Medvedev managed to reel him back him in to deuce. Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 9 Sep. 2023 Hovde was serving down 1-0 and went up 40-love before Udvardy responded to force deuce. Peter Warren, Dallas News, 9 July 2022 The right guard and right tackle will deuce double team block their defensive tackle to the #2 linebacker Pete Werner. Lance Reisland, cleveland, 23 Dec. 2022 In the second game, both struggled to secure a win, constantly going from an advantage back to deuce. Kris Rhim, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2022 Alcaraz won a game that went to deuce five times, sending them to the tiebreak. Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2022 The first set of Wednesday’s three-hour, 27-minute match at Arthur Ashe Stadium featured an epic, 20-point game that went to deuce seven times. Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2021 With the score 5-5 and Keys serving, Stephens jumped to 0-40 lead, only to see Keys dismiss three break points and get back to deuce. Alex Coffey, USA TODAY, 31 Aug. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'deuce.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English dwsse, dews, dewes, borrowed from Anglo-French deus "two" (continental Old French dous, masculine accusative), going back to Latin duōs, accusative of duo; (sense 3) perhaps of independent origin; (sense 4) probably alluding to number two — more at two entry 1

Note: In expressions such as "a deuce on him," "a deuce take me," current from the 1650's, deuce is clearly a euphemism for "devil." The reason for the choice of deuce rather than another word has inspired several explanations, none entirely satisfactory. The editors of the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, apparently following an article by A. L. Mayhew (The Academy, vol. 41, no. 1030, January 30, 1892, pp. 11-12) propose that deuce was borrowed from Low German duus in the same sense: "compare German daus, Low German duus, used in precisely the same way, in the exclamatory der daus! was der daus …! Low German de duus! wat de duus!" A Low German source is not specified by the editors, but Daus is entered in Grimm's Deutsches Wörterbuch with the meaning "deuce" in cards and dice, and as a euphemism for "devil" (Teufel, Low German Düvel). The parallel with English deuce is noted, but there is no suggestion that the English word was borrowed from German. This is indeed a weakness of Mayhew's hypothesis: the parallelism connecting the two languages does not necessarily imply borrowing of the word itself, and borrowing would not in any case explain why in particular duus/daus developed a secondary meaning.

Verb

derivative of deuce entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Verb

1919, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of deuce was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near deuce

Cite this Entry

“Deuce.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deuce. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

deuce

noun
ˈd(y)üs
1
a
: the face of a die that bears two spots
b
: a playing card bearing the number two
c
: a throw of dice resulting in two points
2
: a tie in tennis after each side has scored 40
3
: devil entry 1 sense 1, dickens
used chiefly as a mild oath
Etymology

Noun

from early French deus "two," from Latin duos (same meaning), from duo "two" — related to dual

More from Merriam-Webster on deuce

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