noun
1 buying and selling of goods
ADJECTIVE
▪ big
▪ profitable
▪ private
▪ core
▪
It's time to focus on the company's core ~.
▪ retail , wholesale
▪ online
▪
Supermarkets are doing more online ~.
▪ competitive , tough
▪
Retail is a tough ~.
▪ catering , computer , consulting , insurance , investment , etc.
▪
He spent his whole life in the insurance ~.
▪ entertainment , movie ( esp. AmE ), music , newspaper
▪
We're not trying to educate—we're in the entertainment ~.
VERB + BUSINESS
▪ carry on ( often law ), conduct , do , transact ( formal )
▪
a company that has ceased to carry on ~
▪
He's someone I can do ~ with (= that I find it easy to deal with) .
▪ work in
▪
She works in the computer ~.
▪ go into , set up in
▪ go out of
▪
The company went out of ~ during the recession.
▪ put sb/sth out of
▪
The new regulations will put many small companies out of ~.
▪ help
▪
He argues that tax cuts will help ~.
▪ understand
▪
Nobody understands the music ~ better than him.
BUSINESS + NOUN
▪ deal , transaction
▪ opportunity , venture
▪ meeting
▪ lunch
▪ travel , trip
▪ person (see also businessman, businesswoman )
▪ traveller/traveler
▪ expense
▪
Meals are considered a ~ expense.
▪ community , sector , world
▪ executive , leader , manager
▪
a conference of women ~ leaders
▪ associate , partner
▪ contact
▪ relationship
▪
They developed a lasting ~ relationship.
▪ affairs , interests , matters
▪ decision
▪
It was purely a ~ decision.
▪ ethics
▪ development
▪ investment
▪ secret
▪
to protect ~ secrets
▪ model , plan , strategy
▪
a ~ model for using electronic commerce
▪ practice
▪
It's good ~ practice to listen to your customers.
▪ acumen
▪ card
▪ attire ( esp. AmE ), suit
▪
He wore a ~ suit.
▪ hours
▪
You can call the helpline during normal ~ hours.
▪ school
▪ studies
▪ major ( AmE )
▪ park
▪
The company's offices are located in the new ~ park out of town.
▪ district
▪
the city's main ~ district
PREPOSITION
▪ in ~
▪
He's in ~.
▪
What ~ are you in?
▪
All we need is a car and we'll be in ~ (= we'll have everything we need to start what we want to do) .
▪ on ~
▪
I'm going to Paris on ~.
PHRASES
▪ ~ as usual (= things will continue as normal in spite of a difficult situation)
▪
It's ~ as usual at the factory.
▪ ~ or pleasure
▪
Is the trip to Rome ~ or pleasure?
▪ mix ~ with pleasure
▪
When I travel overseas I like to mix ~ with pleasure.
▪ my, his, her etc. own ~
▪
He left the department to start his own ~.
▪ a place of ~
2 amount of trade done
ADJECTIVE
▪ brisk , good
▪
Business was brisk and they had sold out by midday.
▪ bad , slack ( esp. BrE ), slow
▪ new
▪
They've cut their rates to attract new ~.
▪ repeat
▪
Our repeat ~ is 50% or higher.
VERB + BUSINESS
▪ do
▪
They're doing good ~ in Asia.
▪ attract , drum up , generate
▪
She's in Europe drumming up ~ for her new company.
▪ tout for ( BrE )
▪
insurance salesmen touting for ~
▪ affect , hurt
▪
Cheap imports are hurting ~ for domestic producers.
▪ lose
▪
We're losing ~ to our main rivals.
▪ handle
▪
We took on temporary staff to handle the extra ~.
BUSINESS + VERB
▪ boom , grow
▪
Business is booming for the big pharmaceutical companies.
▪ pick up
▪
After a slack period, ~ is now picking up.
▪ slow , slow down
▪
Business has slowed considerably in recent months.
3 commercial organization
ADJECTIVE
▪ large , medium-sized , small
▪ new
▪
loans for people to start new ~es
▪ family , family-owned
▪ global , international , local
▪ private
▪ state-owned
▪ booming , lucrative , profitable , successful , thriving , viable
▪
The family owns a booming construction ~.
▪ Internet , online , Web
▪
She runs a successful online ~.
▪ traditional
▪
Traditional ~es are having to compete with the Internet.
▪ mail-order , retail , wholesale
▪ catering , grocery ( esp. AmE ), hairdressing , restaurant , etc.
▪
She had her own hairdressing ~.
▪ legitimate
▪
These laws make life more difficult for legitimate ~es.
VERB + BUSINESS
▪ have , own
▪ manage , operate , run
▪
It was always my dream to run my own ~.
▪ establish , launch , set up , start
▪
They decided to start their own ~.
▪ build , build up
▪
We built up the ~ from nothing.
▪ expand , grow
▪
We are looking to grow the ~ over the next couple of years.
▪ work in
▪
He works in the family ~.
▪ enter , join
▪
After leaving school she entered the family ~.
▪ leave
▪ buy , take over
▪ sell
BUSINESS + VERB
▪ do well , flourish , succeed , take off , thrive
▪
After six months the ~ really took off.
▪ expand , grow
▪
The ~ is expanding fast.
▪ collapse , fail
▪ be based in
▪
He owns a management consulting ~ based in Santa Barbara.
BUSINESS + NOUN
▪ assets , premises
▪ failure
▪ owner
4 work/responsibility
ADJECTIVE
▪ daily
▪ real
▪
He needs time and space to get on with the real ~ of writing.
VERB + BUSINESS
▪ get on with , go about
▪
market traders going about their daily ~
▪ make sth
▪
I shall make it my ~ to find out who is responsible.
PHRASES
▪ have no ~ doing sth , have no ~ to do sth ( esp. BrE )
▪
You have no ~ (= no right) being here.
▪ keep your nose out of sb's ~ , mind your own ~
▪
Keep your nose out of my ~!
▪
‘What are you reading?’ ‘Mind your own ~!’
▪
I was just sitting there, minding my own ~, when a man started shouting at me.
▪ no ~ of yours , none of your ~
▪
My private life is none of your ~ (= does not concern you) .
5 important matters
ADJECTIVE
▪ private
▪ important , pressing , urgent
▪ official
▪
This isn't a social call—I've come on official ~.
▪ unfinished
▪
We have some unfinished ~ to discuss.
VERB + BUSINESS
▪ get down to
▪
OK, let's get down to ~.
▪ deal with , discuss , talk
▪
I'm not going to talk ~ tonight.
▪ finish
▪
Jack and I finished our ~ early, so we went to lunch.
PHRASES
▪ any other ~ (= items discussed at the end of a meeting)
▪
I think we've finished item four. Now, is there any other ~?
▪ mean ~ (= be serious about doing something)
▪
He says he's going to make changes, and I think he means ~.
6 situation/event
ADJECTIVE
▪ whole
▪
I'll be glad when the whole ~ is over and done with.
▪ dirty , messy
▪
I'm just glad to be out of the whole dirty ~.
▪ bad , sorry , terrible (all esp. BrE )
▪
It was a bad business—he couldn't work for months.
▪ funny , strange ( esp. BrE )
▪ dangerous , risky , tricky
▪
Changing your life can be a risky ~.
▪ serious
▪
Having fun is a serious ~.