Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1400-1500
Language: Old French
Origin: deus 'two', from Latin duos

deuce

 noun
     
Related topics: Tennis
deuce
1DST [uncountable] the situation in tennis when both players have 40 points, after which one of the players must win two more points to win the game
2 [countable] American English a playing card with the number two on it
3

what/how etc the deuce ...?

old-fashioned spoken used to add force to a question:
What the deuce is going on?
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
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