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]
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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