(~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