What is "never a deal"

Never \Nev"er\ (n[e^]v"[~e]r), adv. [AS. n[=ae]fre; ne not, no +

1. Not ever; not at any time; at no time, whether past, present, or future.
   --Shak.

   Death still draws nearer, never seeming near.
   --Pope.

2. In no degree; not in the least; not.

   Whosoever has a friend to guide him, may carry his eyes in another man's head, and yet see never the worse.
   --South.

   And he answered him to never a word.
   --Matt. xxvii. 14.

   Note: Never is much used in composition with present participles to form adjectives, as in never-ceasing, never-dying, never-ending, never-fading, never-failing, etc., retaining its usual signification.

   Never a deal, not a bit. [Obs.]
   --Chaucer.

   Never so, as never before; more than at any other time, or in any other circumstances; especially; particularly; -- now often expressed or replaced by ever so.

   Ask me never so much dower and gift.
   --Gen. xxxiv. 12.

   A fear of battery, . . . though never so well grounded, is no duress.
   --Blackstone.