business
business — noun
1. the general activity of trading — that is, making, selling, or supplying product
the general activity of trading — that is, making, selling, or supplying products and services in order to earn money.
Maya wants to study business at a university in Taipei next year.
uncountable: study business
Marcus has worked in the coffee business for nearly twenty years.
in the [field] business
Our small bakery does most of its business with local schools and offices.
do business with [customer]
Lina dreams of running her own clothing business one day.
The new tax rules have made business much harder for small farmers.
- go into business
- start in business
- the world of business
Grammar Patterns
in business
do business with
Usage Note
Uncountable in this sense — never 'a business' or 'businesses' for the activity itself; that meaning is sense 2.
Common Mistakes
2. one particular organisation — a firm, shop, or workshop, for example — whose pur
one particular organisation — a firm, shop, or workshop, for example — whose purpose is to make or sell things, or to provide a paid service.
Carlos runs a small business that repairs old motorbikes near the harbour.
run a small business
The Watanabe family has owned this noodle business for four generations.
own a [type] business
After the flood, several local businesses had to close for good.
plural: businesses
Lina set up an online business selling handmade soap from her kitchen.
set up an online business
The bank lends money to small businesses that need to buy new equipment.
- small business
- family business
- online business
- set up a business
- run a business
- company
near-equivalent; 'company' is more formal and is the standard word for a registered firm
- firm
often a professional partnership (law firm, accounting firm)
- enterprise
more formal; often suggests something newly set up or ambitious
Grammar Patterns
run a business
a small/family/online business
Usage Note
Countable — takes 'a/an' and a plural in '-es'. Distinguish from sense 1 by checking whether you can replace 'business' with 'company' (sense 2) or with 'trade'/'commercial activity' (sense 1).
Common Mistakes
3. the paid work or job that someone does, especially when this work involves deali
the paid work or job that someone does, especially when this work involves dealing with other people or travelling.
Dr. Tanaka is in Singapore on business until Friday evening.
on business (purpose of travel)
Lina insists on talking business at every family dinner, much to her brother's annoyance.
talk business (= discuss work matters)
Marcus travels to Asia on business almost every month these days.
travel on business
Sarah wishes the boring business of filing tax forms could be someone else's job.
the [adj] business of [V-ing]
- on business
- business trip
- business meeting
- business hours
Grammar Patterns
on business
what's your business?
Usage Note
Often appears in fixed phrases: 'on business' (purpose of a trip), 'business trip', 'business hours'. The traveller meaning is the most frequent realisation of this sense.
Common Mistakes
4. how much a shop or company is selling, or how many customers it has — for exampl
how much a shop or company is selling, or how many customers it has — for example whether sales are going up, down, or staying steady.
Business has been very slow at the restaurant since the highway opened.
business is slow / good / bad
The bookshop lost a lot of business when a bigger store opened nearby.
lose business to a competitor
We really value your business and hope to see you again soon.
value your business (= your custom)
Tourists from Japan bring most of the business to Carlos's surf school.
After the festival, business at the night market was the best in years.
- lose business
- drum up business
- business is booming
- value your business
Grammar Patterns
lose business
business is good/bad/slow
Usage Note
Uncountable. Often the subject of 'is' + an evaluative adjective ('business is brisk/slow/booming'). 'Take your business elsewhere' means to spend your money at another shop.
Common Mistakes
5. a particular event or situation, especially one that you find odd, unpleasant, o
a particular event or situation, especially one that you find odd, unpleasant, or hard to deal with — used when giving an opinion about it.
This whole business with the missing keys is starting to worry me.
this whole business with...
Marcus called the divorce a sad business that nobody had wanted.
a [adj] business
Lina found packing up her grandmother's house a slow, painful business.
The mayor described the leaked emails as a very strange business indeed.
- a strange business
- a sad business
- a messy business
- the whole business
Grammar Patterns
a strange/messy/serious business
Usage Note
Almost always singular with a determiner ('this/that/the/a + adjective + business'). Distinguish from sense 6 (something that concerns or belongs to a person): sense 5 labels a situation as a whole, while sense 6 talks about whose responsibility it is.
Common Mistakes
6. the things, problems, or decisions that belong to one particular person and that
the things, problems, or decisions that belong to one particular person and that other people have no right to ask about.
How much Lina earns is her own business, not the neighbours' gossip.
[possessive] own business
Aunt Rosa kept poking into Marcus's business until he finally lost his temper.
poke into someone's business
Carlos politely told the reporter that his health was no business of hers.
no business of [pronoun]
Whether the children go to summer camp is really the parents' business.
- my own business
- none of your business
- mind your own business
- no business of yours
Grammar Patterns
my/your/his/their business
no business of yours
Usage Note
Frequently used to push back against a question or criticism, often with 'own', 'no', or 'none of': 'my own business', 'no business of yours', 'none of your business'. Distinguish from sense 5 — here the focus is on rights and responsibility, not on labelling a situation.
Common Mistakes
7. small physical actions that an actor performs on stage — for example, slowly pol
small physical actions that an actor performs on stage — for example, slowly polishing a glass or fumbling with a hat — to make a scene feel real or to show what a character is like.
The director gave the lead actor some funny business with a broken umbrella.
[adj] business with a [prop]
Most of the comedy comes from the clown's silent business with a tiny chair.
stage / comic business
Dr. Tanaka, our drama teacher, calls these tiny gestures 'stage business'.
stage business (technical term)
The young actress invented some lovely business while pouring her morning tea.
- stage business
- comic business
- silent business
- funny business
- stage business
the full technical term; 'business' alone is shorthand among theatre people
- shtick
informal; a comic actor's signature bit of stage action
Grammar Patterns
stage business
comic business
Usage Note
Specialist theatre/film vocabulary; learners will more often meet the full phrase 'stage business'. Almost always uncountable and used with an adjective ('comic', 'silent', 'funny') or with a prop.
an impolite way of telling someone to stop asking about, or interfering in, things that do not belong to them.
When Aunt Rosa asked about his salary again, Marcus told her to mind her own business.
Lina wishes the neighbours would mind their own business and stop watching her garden.
a sharp way of saying that someone has no right to know about something private.
Whether Carlos and his girlfriend will get married is none of your business.
How much the family paid for the house is really none of the reporter's business.
get down to business
idiomto stop chatting or wasting time and start the serious work that you came to do.
After the coffee and small talk, the team finally got down to business at ten.
Let's get down to business — we only have an hour to plan the festival.
mean business
idiomto be very serious about doing something, in a way that other people can clearly see.
The new coach arrived with a whistle and a clipboard, and the players knew she meant business.
When Dr. Tanaka raised his voice, the whole class realised he meant business.
out of business
idiomno longer operating, usually because a company has run out of money or customers.
Two of the small bookshops on our street went out of business last winter.
Without a steady supply of fish, the little restaurant would soon be out of business.
to do something that you have no right to do, or that is not your responsibility.
A six-year-old has no business riding that big motorbike around the yard.
Carlos had no business reading his sister's diary, and he knew it.
business as usual
idioma way of saying that everyday work is going on normally, even though something difficult or unusual has happened.
Despite the small fire next door, it was business as usual at the bakery by Tuesday.
After the long strike ended, the airport quickly returned to business as usual.
any other business
idiomTopics discussed at the end of a meeting that were not on the official list.
Before we finish, is there any other business to discuss?
The chair asked if anyone had any other business to raise.
be the business
idiomTo be excellent or of very high quality.
That new restaurant is the business; you should try it.
Her performance last night was the business.
be in business
idiomTo have everything needed to start something immediately.
Once we get the permit, we'll be in business.
With this funding, the project is in business.
To consider a particular activity as a central part of what you do.
We are in the business of helping students succeed.
The company is in the business of selling software.
business is business
idiomUsed to say that financial matters should not be influenced by personal feelings.
I know he's your friend, but business is business.
She refused the discount, saying business is business.
To continue doing your normal activities.
People went about their business despite the rain.
She went about her business as if nothing happened.
To have no right or reason to do something.
You have no business reading my private emails.
He had no business telling her what to do.
Very much, very fast, or very well.
She can sing like nobody's business.
He's been working like nobody's business to finish on time.
To not intend to do something that might be expected.
I'm not in the business of lying to my clients.
We are not in the business of accepting bribes.
To actively seek customers or passengers.
Taxis ply for hire outside the train station.
Street vendors ply for trade in the market square.
Word family
- businesslikeadjectiveC1
- businessmannounB1
- businesswomannounB1
- businesspersonnounB2
- busyadjectiveA1
- busynessnounC2
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/2
All five words name an organisation that exists to make money, but they sit at different points on a scale of formality and size. 'Business' is the most everyday, learner-friendly word and covers anything from a one-person stall to a huge chain — Lina's online soap shop and Carlos's bike-repair workshop are both businesses. 'Company' is slightly more formal and is the standard word for a registered firm with employees. 'Firm' is narrower: it usually points to a partnership of professionals, such as a law firm or an accounting firm. 'Enterprise' sounds more ambitious and is often used for something newly set up or risky, as in 'a small enterprise run by three engineers'. 'Corporation' is the most formal and largest in scale — typically a big, often international, organisation, like 'a multinational corporation'.
Common collocations
Nouns
- business meeting
- business trip
- business hours
- business card
- business plan
- business owner
- business partner
- business model
Phrases
- do business with
- go into business
- set up a business
- run a business
- lose business
- business as usual
Prepositions
- in business
- out of business
- on business
- into business
- for business
Etymology
The noun 'business' comes from Old English 'bisignes', built from 'bisig' (the ancestor of modern 'busy') plus the noun-forming ending '-ness'. The earliest sense was simply 'the state of being busy' or 'something that keeps a person occupied'. From there it slowly narrowed: in the late medieval period it began to mean 'a particular task or duty', then 'one's work or trade', and by the 1700s it was firmly used for buying, selling, and the firms that do this. The older 'state of being busy' meaning is now spelled differently — 'busyness' — to keep the two ideas apart.