business meaning
- A commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
"he bought his brother's business"; "a small mom-and-pop business"; "a racially integrated business concern"
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Derived forms: businesses
Type of: acting, activity, aim, business activity, commerce, commercial activity, commercialism, concern, enterprise, headache, mercantilism, object, objective, people, performing, playacting, playing, sector, target, vexation, worry
Part of: market, market place, marketplace
Encyclopedia: Business
[Business]
noun
ANY OTHER BUSINESS, BIG BUSINESS, E-BUSINESS, FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS, ONE-MAN BUSINESS, ORGANIZING BUSINESS, SMALL BUSINESS, VOLUME BUSINESS
1 [U]
the activity of making, buying, selling or supplying goods or services for money:
She works in the computer business.
She has set up in business as a hairdresser.
He has business interests on both sides of the Atlantic.
The prime minister addressed the audience of business leaders and economists.
It's been a pleasure to do business with you.
The bank has ceased to conduct business.
After leaving university he went into business with his brother.
A conference is a good place for making new business contacts.
⇨ COMMERCE, TRADE
❖ to go into/set up in business
◆ business activities/affairs/dealings/interests a business analyst/consultant/executive/guru/leader/manager a business deal/transaction a business contact/partner/relationship a business idea/investment/proposition/venture
2 [U]
work that is part of your job:
Is your trip business or pleasure?
Mr Castorri is away on business.
business travel
⇨ BUSINESS LUNCH, BUSINESS TRIP
3 [U]
the amount of work done by a company, etc.; the rate or quality of this work:
Business was bad.
Business was booming.
Her job was to drum up (= increase) business.
The opportunity to grow business in Europe would be slow and challenging.
business is bad/booming/brisk/slow to drum up/grow/increase business
◆ to attract/encourage/generate/seek/win new business
4 [C]
a commercial organization such as a company, shop/store or factory:
They run their own catering business.
She didn't want to work in the family business.
It has taken ten years to build up the business to its current size.
business premises See note at TRADE
❖ to have/manage/run/set up/start a business
◆ to build up/expand/grow a business
5 [U]
important matters that need to be dealt with or discussed:
the main business of the meeting
⇨ ANY OTHER BUSINESS
6 [U]
the fact of being a customer:
We're grateful for your business.
SYN CUSTOM
7 [U]
something that concerns a particular person or organization:
She made it her business to improve the general atmosphere in the office.
IDIOMS
business as usual
a way of saying that things will continue as normal in spite of a difficult situation:
We're under new management, but it's business as usual for our workers.
business is business
a way of saying that financial and commercial matters are the important things to consider and you should not be influenced by friendship, etc.
get down to business
to start dealing with the matter that needs to be dealt with, or doing the work that needs to be done:
Let's get down to business right away-we'll stop for coffee later.
go/put sb out of business
to stop or to make sb stop operating as a business because there is no more money or work available:
The new regulations will put many small firms out of business.
Some travel companies will probably go out of business this summer.
See note at BANKRUPT
in business
1
to be operating as a business:
The loan will help the company remain in business.
It's the most exciting website in business today.
2
to have everything that you need in order to be able to start sth immediately:
All we need is a van and we'll be in business.
LAND OFFICE, ORDER noun, PLY
WHICH WORD?
business/agency/company/consultancy/firm/house
Business is used especially to mean a business that is owned by an individual or family:
to start your own business • a small family business
Company is the general word for a business with a number of managers and employees:
to join a company • the director of the company. The word is often combined with other nouns:
an insurance/oil/a phone company
Firm is the general word for a business that provides a professional service:
an accountancy/a law firm
Other words, such as consultancy, agency and house, are used in fewer contexts. Nouns that are often combined with these words include:
• a design/IT/management consultancy
• an advertising/employment agency
• a publishing/software house • an auction house
See note at TRADE
[Economics]
1) All forms of industrial and commercial profit-seeking activity. The business cycle refers to fluctuations in the aggregate level of economic activity, and the Business Expansion Scheme in the UK uses business in this sense.
2) The firms conducting these activities: businessmen or women are the directors and managers of firms.
3) The ownership/management side of firms, as opposed to their ordinary employees; this group is often referred to as the business community.
[Finance]
See: Merger
[Medicine]
The interchange of goods or commodities,especially on a large scale,between different countries or between populations within the same country. It includes trade (the buying,selling,or exchanging of commodities,whether wholesale or retail) and business (the purchase and sale of goods to make a profit). (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary,2d ed,p411,p2005 & p283)
- business ,: [British slang]Nou ...
- in business: 1. Working, esp in ...
- the business: (slang) &nbs ...
Examples
More: Next- business is terrible. i am calling it quits.
- he was of no use at all in the business.
- she is not too nice in her business methods.
- business is always brisk before christmas.
- do you mean that it's none of my business?
