[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

business \busi"ness\ bi^z"ne^s, n.; pl. businesses
   bi^z"ne^se^z. from busy.
   1. that which busies one, or that which engages the time,
      attention, or labor of any one, as his principal concern
      or interest, whether for a longer or shorter time;
      constant employment; regular occupation; as, the business
      of life; business before pleasure.
      1913 webster

            wist ye not that i must be about my father's
            business?                             --luke ii. 49.
      1913 webster

   2. any particular occupation or employment engaged in for
      livelihood or gain, as agriculture, trade, art, or a
      profession. "the business of instruction." --prescott.
      1913 webster

   3. financial dealings; buying and selling; traffic in
      general; mercantile transactions.
      1913 webster

            it seldom happens that men of a studious turn
            acquire any degree of reputation for their knowledge
            of business.                          --bp. popteus.
      1913 webster

   4. that which one has to do or should do; special service,
      duty, or mission.
      1913 webster

            the daughter of the king of france,
            on serious business, craving quick despatch,
            importunes personal conference.       --shak.
      1913 webster

            what business has the tortoise among the clouds?
                                                  --l'estrange.
      1913 webster

   5. affair; concern; matter; -- used in an indefinite sense,
      and modified by the connected words.
      1913 webster

            it was a gentle business, and becoming
            the action of good women.             --shak.
      1913 webster

            bestow
            your needful counsel to our business. --shak.
      1913 webster

   6. drama the position, distribution, and order of persons
      and properties on the stage of a theater, as determined by
      the stage manager in rehearsal.
      1913 webster

   7. care; anxiety; diligence. obs. --chaucer.
      1913 webster

   to do one's business, to ruin one. colloq. --wycherley.

   to make a thing one's business, to occupy one's self with
      a thing as a special charge or duty. colloq.

   to mean business, to be earnest. colloq.
      1913 webster

   syn: affairs; concern; transaction; matter; engagement;
        employment; calling; occupation; trade; profession;
        vocation; office; duty.
        1913 webster
see also:
businesses busy to do one's business to make a thing one's business to mean business 

Businesses >> B Words
Businesses, definition of term: Businesses
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