See Also: Business-to-Business Advertising(money)
Business(medicine)
big business(dictionary)
business law(encyclopedia)
business(dictionary)
business end(dictionary)
Business Air Ltd(tourism)
business(dictionary)
Business Day(money)
Business Jet(tourism)

business (iou)



business noun.

I. The state of being busy (cf. BUSYNESS).
Anxiety; distress, uneasiness. OE-L16.
The state of being busily engaged; activity; application, industry; diligent labour. ME-E18.
Eagerness; importunity; officiousness. LME-L16.
Attention, care; observance. LME-M16.
Trouble, difficulty; ado; commotion. LME-L17.
II. The object of concern or activity.
The object of serious effort; an aim. LME-M16.
An appointed task; a duty, a province; spec. a particular errand, a cause of coming. LME.
Bunyan What is your business here so late to Night? W. S. Churchill The Prime Minister..believed that the primary business of government was to administer the existing order.
Action demanding time and labour; serious work. LME.
Proverb: Business comes before pleasure.
A habitual occupation, a profession, a trade. L15.
Carlyle I wished to be a fisherman, and tried that business for a time.
A thing that concerns one; a matter in which one may take part. E16.
M. Leitch What went on in between was their business, none of hers.
A particular matter requiring attention; a piece of work; a job; an agenda. M16.
Pope What I act, survey, And learn from thence the business of the day.
b. A topic, a subject. Only in 17.
c. A difficult matter. colloq. M19.
Carlyle If he had known what a business it was to govern the Abbey.
gen. An affair; a concern, a process; a matter; a structure; slang all that is available. Usu. derog. E17.
C. Stead The difficult..and dangerous business of climbing on the roof. D. Cusack That nasty business in Second Year...They lampooned the Staff in their class paper.
Dealings, intercourse, (with). E17.
Theatrical. Action on stage (as opp. to dialogue). L17.
Trade; commercial transactions or engagements; total bookings, receipts, etc. E18.
A commercial house, a firm. L19.
Phrases etc.: any other business matters not specifically listed on the agenda for a meeting. bad business: see BAD adjective. big business: see BIG adjective. business as usual normal trading, proceedings, etc., despite disturbances. do one's business colloq. urinate or (esp.) defecate. do the business colloq. do what is required or expected, achieve the desired result. funny business: see FUNNY adjective. get down to business begin serious work, begin in earnest. go about one's business stop interfering in another's affairs, go away, (freq. in imper.). in business habitually occupied in trade or commerce; fig. able to begin operations, operational. in the business of engaged or involved in, concerned with, (usu. in neg. contexts). line of business: see LINE noun2. make it one's business to make a particular effort to, undertake to. mean business be in earnest. mind one's own business refrain from interfering in another's affairs (freq. in imper.). mind-your-own-business: see MIND verb. monkey business: see MONKEY noun. nobody's business colloq. something extraordinary (like nobody's business, to an extraordinary degree). on business with a definite purpose, esp. one relating to one's trade or profession. send about his or her business send (a person) packing, dismiss (a person). way of business: see WAY noun.
Comb.: business card: with one's name and information about one's firm etc.; business cycle the trade cycle; business end colloq. the working end of a tool etc.; business hours: in which business is regularly transacted, during which shops or offices are open; business lunch: at which commercial transactions are discussed; businessman: engaged in trade or commerce (the TIRED businessman); business studies the analysis of commercial activities as an academic subject; business suit a lounge suit; businesswoman: engaged in trade or commerce.
? Orig. trisyllabic (cf. BUSYNESS). The disyllabic pronunc. has been promoted through loss of direct assoc. with BUSY adjective.
businesslike adjective efficient, practical, systematic L18.