BUSINESS


Meaning of BUSINESS in English

(~es)

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.

1.

Business is work relating to the production, buying, and selling of goods or services.

...young people seeking a career in ~...

Jennifer has an impressive academic and ~ background.

...Harvard Business School.

N-UNCOUNT

2.

Business is used when talking about how many products or services a company is able to sell. If ~ is good, a lot of products or services are being sold and if ~ is bad, few of them are being sold.

They worried that German companies would lose ~...

Business is booming.

N-UNCOUNT

3.

A ~ is an organization which produces and sells goods or which provides a service.

The company was a family ~...

The majority of small ~es go broke within the first twenty-four months...

He was short of cash after the collapse of his ~.

= company, firm

N-COUNT

4.

Business is work or some other activity that you do as part of your job and not for pleasure.

I’m here on ~...

You can’t mix ~ with pleasure.

...~ trips.

N-UNCOUNT: oft on N

5.

You can use ~ to refer to a particular area of work or activity in which the aim is to make a profit.

May I ask you what ~ you’re in?

...the music ~.

N-SING: oft supp N

6.

You can use ~ to refer to something that you are doing or concerning yourself with.

...recording Ben as he goes about his ~...

There was nothing left for the teams to do but get on with the ~ of racing.

N-SING: with supp

7.

You can use ~ to refer to important matters that you have to deal with.

The most important ~ was left to the last...

I’ve got some unfinished ~ to attend to.

N-UNCOUNT

8.

If you say that something is your ~, you mean that it concerns you personally and that other people have no right to ask questions about it or disagree with it.

My sex life is my ~...

If she doesn’t want the police involved, that’s her ~...

It’s not our ~.

= affair, concern

N-UNCOUNT: with poss

9.

You can use ~ to refer in a general way to an event, situation, or activity. For example, you can say something is ‘a wretched ~’ or you can refer to ‘this assassination ~’.

We have sorted out this wretched ~ at last...

This whole ~ is very puzzling.

= affair

N-SING: supp N

10.

You can use ~ when describing a task that is unpleasant in some way. For example, if you say that doing something is a costly ~, you mean that it costs a lot. (INFORMAL)

Coastal defence is a costly ~...

Parenting can be a stressful ~.

= affair

N-SING: supp N

11.

see also big ~ , show ~

12.

If two people or companies do ~ with each other, one sells goods or services to the other.

I was fascinated by the different people who did ~ with me.

PHRASE: V inflects, PHR with n, pl-n PHR

13.

If you say that someone has no ~ to be in a place or to do something, you mean that they have no right to be there or to do it.

Really I had no ~ to be there at all.

PHRASE: V inflects, PHR to-inf, PHR -ing

14.

A company that is in ~ is operating and trading.

You can’t stay in ~ without cash.

PHRASE: v-link PHR

15.

If you say you are in ~, you mean you have everything you need to start something immediately. (INFORMAL, SPOKEN)

All you need is a microphone, and you’re in ~.

PHRASE: V inflects, v-link PHR

16.

If you say that someone means ~, you mean they are serious and determined about what they are doing. (INFORMAL)

Now people are starting to realise that he means ~.

PHRASE: V inflects

17.

If you say to someone ‘mind your own ~’ or ‘it’s none of your ~’, you are rudely telling them not to ask about something that does not concern them. (INFORMAL)

I asked Laura what was wrong and she told me to mind my own ~.

PHRASE

18.

If a shop or company goes out of ~ or is put out of ~, it has to stop trading because it is not making enough money.

Thousands of firms could go out of ~.

PHRASE: PHR after v

19.

In a difficult situation, if you say it is ~ as usual, you mean that people will continue doing what they normally do.

The Queen was determined to show it was ~ as usual.

PHRASE: usu v-link PHR

Collins COBUILD.      Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) .