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business
[ biz-nis ]
noun
- an occupation, profession, or trade:
His business is poultry farming.
Synonyms: employment, vocation, calling
- the purchase and sale of goods in an attempt to make a profit.
- a person, partnership, or corporation engaged in commerce, manufacturing, or a service; profit-seeking enterprise or concern.
- volume of trade; patronage:
Most of the store's business comes from local families.
- a building or site where commercial work is carried on, as a factory, store, or office; place of work:
His business is on the corner of Broadway and Elm Street.
- that with which a person is principally and seriously concerned:
Words are a writer's business.
- something with which a person is rightfully concerned:
What they are doing is none of my business.
- affair; project:
We were exasperated by the whole business.
- an assignment or task; chore:
It's your business to wash the dishes now.
- Also called piece of business, Theater. a movement or gesture, especially a minor one, used by an actor to give expressiveness, drama, detail, etc., to a scene or to help portray a character.
- excrement: used as a euphemism.
adjective
- of, noting, or pertaining to business, its organization, or its procedures.
- containing, suitable for, or welcoming business or commerce:
New York is a good business town.
business
/ ˈbɪznɪs /
noun
- a trade or profession
- an industrial, commercial, or professional operation; purchase and sale of goods and services
the tailoring business
- a commercial or industrial establishment, such as a firm or factory
- commercial activity; dealings (esp in the phrase do business )
- volume or quantity of commercial activity
business is poor today
- commercial policy or procedure
overcharging is bad business
- proper or rightful concern or responsibility (often in the phrase mind one's own business )
- a special task; assignment
- a matter or matters to be attended to
the business of the meeting
- an affair; matter
a queer business
I'm tired of the whole business
- serious work or activity
get down to business
- a complicated affair; rigmarole
- informal.a vaguely defined collection or area
jets, fast cars, and all that business
- Also calledstage business theatre an incidental action, such as lighting a pipe, performed by an actor for dramatic effect
- a group of ferrets
- euphemistic.defecation (esp in the phrase do one's business )
- slang.prostitution
- like nobody's business informal.like nobody's business extremely well or fast
- mean businessmean business to be in earnest
- do the business informal.do the business to achieve what is required
it tastes vile, but it does the business
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Pronunciation Note
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Other Words From
- an·ti·busi·ness adjective
- in·ter·busi·ness adjective
- mul·ti·busi·ness adjective
- non·busi·ness adjective
- o·ver·bus·i·ness noun
- pro·busi·ness adjective
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of business1
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Idioms and Phrases
- business is business, profit has precedence over personal considerations:
He is reluctant to fire his friend, but business is business.
- do one's business, (usually of an animal or child) to defecate or urinate:
housebreaking a puppy to do his business outdoors.
- get down to business, to apply oneself to serious matters; concentrate on work:
They finally got down to business and signed the contract.
- give someone the business, Informal.
- to make difficulties for someone; treat harshly:
Instead of a straight answer they give him the business with a needless run-around.
- to scold severely; give a tongue-lashing to:
The passengers will give the bus driver the business if he keeps driving so recklessly.
- have no business, to have no right:
You have no business coming into this house.
- mean business, to propose to take action or be serious in intent; be in earnest:
By the fire in his eye we knew that he meant business.
- mind one's own business, to refrain from meddling in the affairs of others:
When he inquired about the noise coming from the neighbor's apartment, he was told to mind his own business.
More idioms and phrases containing business
In addition to the idiom beginning with business , also see funny business ; get down to (business) ; go about (one's business) ; have no business doing ; land-office business ; like mad (nobody's business) ; make it one's business ; mean business ; mind one's own business ; monkey business ; none of one's business ; out of business ; send someone about his or her business ; the business .Discover More
Synonym Study
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Example Sentences
I was a little mystified at how benignly he responded to my questions about his business activities.
This reporter knocked at the Wilkins home on Tuesday morning but received neither an answer nor the business end of a shotgun.
“Competition is there, of course, but I think there is enough business for everyone as long as the demand is there,” he says.
Last March they gave Airbus a huge piece of new business, ordering 169 A320s and 65 of the slightly larger A321.
Together, they crossed over the International Bridges on foot into Juarez to conduct some business.
He remembered something—the cherished pose of being a man plunged fathoms-deep in business.
A letter from Fajardo to the king (December 10, 1621) concerns various matters of administration and business.
The father of Mr. Stacy Marks predestined him for the coach-building business.
That, and a range war that grew out of the killing, and some kind of a business deal just about broke them.
But he could not bear the reflection, and with fevered impatience, he hurried through the business of the morning.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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