business

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Business

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[ English

Rank of this word in the English language, from analyzing texts from Project Gutenberg.
lost	human	kept	#382: business	mean	manner	following

[ Etymology

busy + -ness

[ Pronunciation

IPA: /ˈbɪznəs/, SAMPA: /"bIzn@s/
Audio (US)^{help, file}
Hyphenation: busi·ness

[ Noun

Singular
business

Plural
countable and uncountable; businesses

business (countable and uncountable; plural businesses)

(countable) A specific commercial enterprise or establishment.

I was left my father's business.
(countable) A person's occupation, work, or trade.

He is in the motor business.

I'm going to Las Vegas on business.
(uncountable) Commercial, industrial, or professional activity.

He's such a poor cook, I can't believe he's still in business!

We do business all over the world.
(uncountable) The volume or amount of commercial trade.

Business has been slow lately.
(uncountable) One's dealings; patronage.

I shall take my business elsewhere.
(uncountable) Private commercial interests taken collectively.

This proposal will satisfy both business and labor.
(uncountable) The management of commercial enterprises, or the study of such management.

I studied business at Harvard.
(countable) A particular situation or activity.

This UFO stuff is a mighty strange business.
(countable) An objective or a matter needing to be dealt with.

Our principal business here is to get drunk.

Let's get down to business.
(uncountable) Something involving one personally.

That's none of your business.
(uncountable, parliamentary procedure) Matters that come before a body for deliberation or action.

If that concludes the announcements, we'll move on to new business.
(travel, uncountable) Business class, the class of seating provided by airlines between first class and coach.
- 1992, James Wallace and Jim Erickson, Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire^[1], page 154,
  
  Gates, who always flew business or coach, didn't particularly like the high air fares Nishi was charging to Microsoft, […]
(acting) Action carried out with a prop or piece of clothing, usually away from the focus of the scene.
- 1983, Peter Thomson, Shakespeare's Theatre^[2], ISBN 0710203829, page 155,
  
  The business with the hat is a fine example of the difficulty of distinguishing between 'natural' and 'formal' acting.
(countable, rare) The collective noun for a group of ferrets.
- 2004, Dave Duncan, The Jaguar Knights: A Chronicle of the King's Blades^[3], ISBN 0060555114, page 252,
  
  I'm sure his goons will go through the ship like a business of ferrets, and they'll want to look in our baggage.
(uncountable, slang, UK) Something very good; top quality. (possibly from "the bee's knees")

These new phones are the business!
(slang, uncountable) Excrement, particularly that of a non-human animal.

Your ferret left his business all over the floor.