Businesses

1 definition 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.
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              Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's
              business?                             --Luke ii. 49.
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     2. Any particular occupation or employment engaged in for
        livelihood or gain, as agriculture, trade, art, or a
        profession. "The business of instruction." --Prescott.
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     3. Financial dealings; buying and selling; traffic in
        general; mercantile transactions.
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              It seldom happens that men of a studious turn
              acquire any degree of reputation for their knowledge
              of business.                          --Bp. Popteus.
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     4. That which one has to do or should do; special service,
        duty, or mission.
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              The daughter of the King of France,
              On serious business, craving quick despatch,
              Importunes personal conference.       --Shak.
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              What business has the tortoise among the clouds?
                                                    --L'Estrange.
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     5. Affair; concern; matter; -- used in an indefinite sense,
        and modified by the connected words.
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              It was a gentle business, and becoming
              The action of good women.             --Shak.
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              Bestow
              Your needful counsel to our business. --Shak.
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     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.
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     7. Care; anxiety; diligence. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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     {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.]
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     Syn: Affairs; concern; transaction; matter; engagement;
          employment; calling; occupation; trade; profession;
          vocation; office; duty.
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