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| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| free enterprise | |
| —n | |
| an economic system in which commercial organizations compete for profit with little state control | |
The freedom of private businesses to operate competitively for profit with minimal governmental regulation.
free enterprise
Also, private enterprise. An undertaking on one's own behalf, especially a shady or illegal one. For example, The city treasurer didn't bother with competitive bids; the spirit of free enterprise just led him to his brother-in-law, or The sergeant indulged in a little private enterprise, selling cigarettes on the black market. This sarcastic application of a term that has meant, since about 1885, the freedom of private businesses to operate competitively for profit with a minimum of government control, dates from the mid-1900s.