business

phrases

• be back in business

  to be working or operating normally again

  The weekly market is back in business after its winter break.

  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of business

• be the business

  British informal
  to be very good

  Those samples you sent us really are the business.

  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of business

• be in business

  1. 1

     if a company is in business, it is operating normally

     The company has been in business for almost 100 years.

     Thesaurus entry for this meaning of business
  2. 2

     informal to be ready to do something, because all the necessary preparations have been made

     Just connect the printer to your computer and you’re in business.

     Thesaurus entry for this meaning of business

• be in the business of doing something

  used for saying what the basic aims of someone’s actions or business activities are. This expression is often used when you think someone wants or expects something unreasonable

  I am not in the business of selling my best players.

  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of business

• business as usual

  used for describing a situation in which everything happens normally, especially after a period of time when things happen in a different way

  Less than a week after the fire it was business as usual.

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• do the business

  British informal
  1. 1

     to do what people want or expect you to do

     We reckon our team’s good enough to do the business (=win).

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  2. 2

     to have sex

     Thesaurus entry for this meaning of business

• get down to business

  to start doing something that you need to do

  I have a plane to catch, so let’s get down to business.

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• go about your business

  to do the things that you normally do

  The street was full of people innocently going about their business.

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• go out of business

  if a company goes out of business, it stops doing business permanently, especially because it has failed

  If we sold food at those prices we’d soon go out of business.

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• have no business doing something

  to do something you should not do, because it does not affect or involve you at all

  You had no business going through my private papers.

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• like nobody’s business

  spoken
  used for emphasizing that something happens very quickly, in very large quantities, or that someone does something very well

  Letters have been pouring in like nobody’s business.

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• make it your business to do something

  to make an effort to do something because you think it is important

  She makes it her business to get to know all her staff.

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• mind your own business

  spoken
  1. 1

     mind your own business

     or none of your business spoken used for telling someone rudely that you are not going to tell them about something because it does not affect or involve them

     ‘Who were you with last night?’ ‘Mind your own business.’

     Thesaurus entry for this meaning of business
  2. 2

     to be doing the things you normally do, without affecting what other people are doing

     There I was, minding my own business, when this man started yelling at me.

     Thesaurus entry for this meaning of business

• a risky/serious/tricky etc business

  used for saying that something is dangerous/serious etc

  Disposing of chemicals can be a dangerous business.

  For Jack, golf is a serious business.

  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of business