7. TRANSITIVE to control an animal or a vehicle using your hands She handled the horse very confidently. 8. INTRANSITIVE if a vehicle handles well or badly, it is easy or difficult to control 9. TRANSITIVE to buy and sell goods, especially illegally handle stolen goods: He denied burglary but admitted handling stolen goods. You can check here: Handle: https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/handle_1 Deal with: https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/deal-with

Hello Sara, I checked the Macmillan dictionary and this is what I found (these words are synonyms in my opinion): *Deal with: 1. (deal with someone) to take the action that is necessary when you are involved with a particular person or type of person. He believes young offenders should be dealt with quickly and harshly. 2. (deal with something) to accept and control a difficult emotional situation so that you can start to live a normal life again despite it She’s dealing with her father’s death very well. He’s not great at dealing with stress. 3. (deal with someone) to buy goods or services from someone, or to sell them to someone We have dealt with the company for years. 4.(deal with something) to be about a subject Chapter 5 deals only briefly with this issue. 5. to talk about something We’ll deal with the question of poverty in a moment. *Handle: 1. TRANSITIVE to take action in order to deal with a difficult situation The government was criticized for the way it handled the crisis. handle something well: Congratulations! You handled that really well. badly​/​poorly handled: We felt that the dispute was badly handled. 2. to be responsible for doing a particular job or piece of work Inspector Dawkin will be handling this case. Publicity is being handled by an outside agency. 3. to be able to deal successfully with a large amount of work or information The newer computers can handle massive amounts of data. The helpline handles 100 calls an hour. 4. to deal with the people or goods that pass through an airport, port, or other centre The depot handles over two million tonnes of freight a week. 5. to deal successfully with a person who is likely to become angry or upset All the staff are trained to handle difficult customers. 6. TRANSITIVE to touch or hold someone or something handle something with care: All chemicals must be handled with care. handle someone roughly: Some prisoners complained that they’d been roughly handled. (CONTINUES UP)

Both are used interchangeably but don't express same meaning. To handle something means more like "to manage" and to deal is more like "to face". I found this example online: Can you deal with it? I know you have the capability. Can you handle it? Do you feel you would be able to manage all of it.