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business [ busi·ness ]

[
US
ˈbɪznəs ]
[
UK
ˈbɪznəs ]
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TOEIC 350

Noun

1. A person's regular occupation, profession, or trade.

When travelling away on business, always remember to pack a shaver.

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2. An activity that someone is engaged in.

All of an auctioneer's business requires the trust and goodwill of the public.

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3. A person's concern.

the neighbours make it their business to know all about you

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4. Work that has to be done or matters that have to be attended to.

government business

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5. Commercial activity.

the business community

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6. Trade considered in terms of its volume or profitability.

how's business?

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7. A commercial operation or company.

Transitory relief on business rates bills hide the real cost in future years.

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8. (in Aboriginal English) traditional law and ritual.

He worked there for about twenty years except for short breaks to carry out tribal business.

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9. A situation or series of events, typically a scandalous or discreditable one.

What happened to the business about his taking the Viscount's passports?

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10. A difficult matter.

Selecting reading matter for the bathroom is a delicate business.

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11. Actions on stage other than dialogue.

What these critics are missing is the stage business that occurs during the dialogue.

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12. (the business) A very enjoyable or popular person or thing.

this brandy is the business

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13. A group of ferrets.

During that year he fed his business of ferrets exclusively on a diet of dead rats.

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Origin

1. Old English bisignis ‘anxiety’ (see busy, -ness); the sense ‘state of being busy’ was used from Middle English down to the 18th century, but is now differentiated as busyness. The use ‘appointed task’ dates from late Middle English, and from it all the other current senses have developed.

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