Result from Foreign Dictionaries (2 entries found)

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Business \Busi"ness\ (b[i^]z"n[e^]s), n.; pl. {Businesses} (b[i^]z"n[e^]s*[e^]z). [From {Busy}.] 1. That which busies one, or that which engages the time, attention, or labor of any one, as his principal concern or interest, whether for a longer or shorter time; constant employment; regular occupation; as, the business of life; business before pleasure. [1913 Webster] Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? --Luke ii. 49. [1913 Webster] 2. Any particular occupation or employment engaged in for livelihood or gain, as agriculture, trade, art, or a profession. "The business of instruction." --Prescott. [1913 Webster] 3. Financial dealings; buying and selling; traffic in general; mercantile transactions. [1913 Webster] It seldom happens that men of a studious turn acquire any degree of reputation for their knowledge of business. --Bp. Popteus. [1913 Webster] 4. That which one has to do or should do; special service, duty, or mission. [1913 Webster] The daughter of the King of France, On serious business, craving quick despatch, Importunes personal conference. --Shak. [1913 Webster] What business has the tortoise among the clouds? --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster] 5. Affair; concern; matter; -- used in an indefinite sense, and modified by the connected words. [1913 Webster] It was a gentle business, and becoming The action of good women. --Shak. [1913 Webster] Bestow Your needful counsel to our business. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 6. (Drama) The position, distribution, and order of persons and properties on the stage of a theater, as determined by the stage manager in rehearsal. [1913 Webster] 7. Care; anxiety; diligence. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] {To do one's business}, to ruin one. [Colloq.] --Wycherley. {To make (a thing) one's business}, to occupy one's self with a thing as a special charge or duty. [Colloq.] {To mean business}, to be earnest. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster] Syn: Affairs; concern; transaction; matter; engagement; employment; calling; occupation; trade; profession; vocation; office; duty. [1913 Webster] From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: business n 1: a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it; "he bought his brother's business"; "a small mom-and-pop business"; "a racially integrated business concern" [syn: {business}, {concern}, {business concern}, {business organization}, {business organisation}] 2: the activity of providing goods and services involving financial and commercial and industrial aspects; "computers are now widely used in business" [syn: {commercial enterprise}, {business enterprise}, {business}] 3: the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money; "he's not in my line of business" [syn: {occupation}, {business}, {job}, {line of work}, {line}] 4: a rightful concern or responsibility; "it's none of your business"; "mind your own business" 5: an immediate objective; "gossip was the main business of the evening" 6: the volume of commercial activity; "business is good today"; "show me where the business was today" 7: business concerns collectively; "Government and business could not agree" [syn: {business}, {business sector}] 8: customers collectively; "they have an upper class clientele" [syn: {clientele}, {patronage}, {business}] 9: incidental activity performed by an actor for dramatic effect; "his business with the cane was hilarious" [syn: {business}, {stage business}, {byplay}]