busies

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of busy.

   He busies himself fixing old clocks in the evenings.

   The new manager busies herself learning every department's routine.

   Note

   The present-tense verb almost always turns back on its subject: someone busies himself or herself, rather than busying another person, though an ordinary object is possible. The final y of busy becomes -ies here, and the same spelling serves the slang plural for police officers. Context tells them apart: a reflexive pronoun after it signals the verb, a determiner before it signals the noun.

2. 2
   nounslangUK

   Plural of busy.

   The busies had been watching the warehouse for weeks.

   A pair of busies questioned everyone in the pub.

   Note

   The plural of a British slang word for a police officer, and a derogatory one. It carries hostility toward the police, so it suits dialogue and colloquial narration but not neutral reporting. Grammatically it is an ordinary count noun (the busies were watching, a pair of busies). Despite the shared spelling, it should not be read as a form of the adjective meaning occupied or bustling.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2