business

Less common meanings

10. 10
    personal concernnoununcountable

    A matter or concern that involves one personally.

    Who she chooses to marry is her business alone.

    He resented anyone prying into his private business.

    UsageSet phrases: none of your business, mind your own business, that's my business; they can sound rude.

    Similaraffair

11. 11
    plane seatingnoununcountable

    The class of airline seating above economy, offering more comfort and service, and below first class where an airline has one.

    He paid extra to sit in business for the long transatlantic leg.

    The company lets senior staff book business on flights over six hours.

    UsageSay fly business or fly business class, with no article. Business class is the full form.

    Note

    An airline cabin name that has dropped its second word. The full form, business class, names the cabin above economy, and on many airlines it is now the top one. Hard Drive (1992) says Bill Gates "always flew business or coach," which shows the clipped form in ordinary prose. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Hard Drive was first published in 1992. openlibrary.org
    • Hard Drive describes Bill Gates using the exact words “always flew business or coach.” en.wiktionary.org
    • Business class ranks above economy and is the highest cabin class on many airlines. en.wikipedia.org
12. 12
    Hollywoodnouncolloquialcountable or uncountable

    The entertainment industry, especially film and television production.

    Decades in the business taught her which studios honored their contracts.

    He left the business after one bruising studio negotiation.

    Similarindustry, showbiz

    Note

    Insiders' shorthand, heard especially in Los Angeles. The business, always with the definite article, means the film and television industry, as if no other trade counted. People are in the business, leave the business, or spend decades in the business. Outside that world the phrase needs context, because "the business" could mean any firm. For general readers, "the entertainment industry" is clearer. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • The entertainment-industry sense is associated especially with Los Angeles. en.wiktionary.org
13. 13
    toilet (animals)nouncolloquialuncountable

    A polite term for excrement, or the act of producing it, especially that of an animal.

    The cat does its business in a tray of litter by the door.

    We waited while the horse did its business before the parade set off.

    UsageMostly do its business, said of a pet.

    Note

    A softening word for what animals leave behind. It sounds polite rather than crude, which is why it suits talk of pets. Applied to adults it becomes coy or comic.

14. 14
    mischiefnounslangcountable or uncountable

    Mischievous or disruptive behavior; troublesome goings-on.

    The substitute teacher had barely turned to the board before the monkey business started in the back row.

    After last year's pranks, the principal warned the seniors that any funny business at graduation would cost them their diplomas.

    UsageUsually funny business or monkey business; give someone the business means tease or harass them.

    Similarnonsense, trouble, mischief, shenanigans

15. 15
    adjective

    Professional and businesslike in manner, showing concern for sound and proper business practice.

    The new treasurer was all business, cutting the small talk short and walking the committee through every receipt.

    His business demeanor reassured the investors that the firm was in steady hands.

    Similarprofessional, efficient, practical

    Oppositeunprofessional, casual

    Note

    An adjective use that shows the noun turning into a quality. "He is thoroughly business," wrote The Clothier and Furnisher in 1889, and others spoke of a thoroughly business manner. The intensifier thoroughly gives it away, since it cannot modify a plain noun. Today businesslike usually does this job, though Frank Channing Haddock, who died in 1915, also wrote "thoroughly business" in his book Business Power. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • The Clothier and Furnisher used “He is thoroughly business” in 1889. en.wiktionary.org
    • Other writers used “thoroughly business manner”; Wiktionary records an example from Business Administration: Business Practice (1909). en.wiktionary.org
    • Modification by an intensifying adverb supports the adjective analysis rather than a plain noun analysis. gawron.sdsu.edu
    • Frank Channing Haddock died in 1915. en.wikipedia.org
    • Haddock wrote “thoroughly business” in Business Power; the quotation appears within “a thoroughly business manner.” en.wiktionary.org
16. 16
    adjective

    Supportive of commercial activity and conducive to carrying on a trade.

    Amiens is a thoroughly business town, the business being chiefly with the flax-works.

    1867, “Amiens”, in Edmund Hodgson Yates

    Note

    Applied to places and settings rather than people. A business town is one built around trade, as Tinsley's Magazine said of Amiens and its flax-works in 1867. The business world is the whole territory where commerce happens. Where the "businesslike" sense describes a person's manner, this one describes the conditions that let trade thrive. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • The article “Amiens” in Tinsley's Magazine (1867) described Amiens as a business town and associated its business chiefly with flax-works. en.wiktionary.org
17. 17
    stage actionnouncountable or uncountableabbreviationellipsis

    Short for stage business. Small actions or gestures an actor makes on stage for effect, often with a prop or piece of clothing.

    She invented a bit of business with an umbrella to open the scene.

    The comedy relied on clever business between the two leads.

    Note

    An actor's word for what happens between the lines: a piece of action, often with a prop or an article of clothing, played for effect and usually away from the focus of the scene, with or without dialogue. Among theater people, stage is simply dropped. It works as a mass noun: a bit of business, the business with the hat. That is Peter Thomson's phrase in 1983, used to weigh 'natural' against 'formal' acting. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • The theatrical sense of business is an ellipsis of stage business. en.wiktionary.org
    • Business is a mass noun in both examples; bit is the count noun in a bit of business. en.wiktionary.org
    • Peter Thomson used the phrase the business with the hat in 1983 when discussing natural and formal acting. en.wiktionary.org
18. 18
    nounslangcountable or uncountable

    An indirect term for prostitution; sex work engaged in for money.

    Every night a few women waited near the docks for passing cars, and everyone in the neighborhood knew they were in the business.

    Her memoir describes how a pimp lured her into the business at sixteen and how she finally escaped.

    Similartrade, game, prostitution

    Note

    A slang euphemism that, like the entertainment-industry sense, depends on the definite article: someone in the business, in this sense, sells sex. The indirection is the point, since the trade is mentioned without being named. The same phrase is ordinary in other contexts, so this meaning relies heavily on setting. Check the surrounding text before reading it this way.

19. 19
    the bestnounslangBritishcountable or uncountable

    Something excellent; the very best of its kind.

    Critics agreed the band's latest album was the business.

    For a cheap pair of boots, these are really the business.

    Similarbomb, best, tops

    Note

    British slang praise, always used with the definite article: these boots are the business, that album is the business. The origin is uncertain, though it may come from "the bee's knees," another phrase for the very best. It belongs to speech and casual writing. In formal English it would sound out of place or deliberately jokey. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • The origin is uncertain; derivation from "the bee's knees" is a proposed possibility. en.wiktionary.org
    • "The bee's knees" means something excellent. en.wiktionary.org
20. 20
    nounAustraliacountable or uncountable

    Matters or affairs, especially significant cultural or ceremonial ones in Australian Aboriginal contexts.

    Sorry business kept the community together throughout the mourning period.

    Certain ceremonies are women's business and remain closed to men.

    Note

    In Australian Aboriginal English, the word names matters of cultural weight, usually with a qualifier in front. Sorry business is the work of mourning. Men's business and women's business are knowledge and ceremony restricted by gender. These are not casual phrases: they mark what is shared, private or closed, and outsiders should use them with the respect their speakers give them. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Sorry business involves mourning. documents.uow.edu.au
    • Men's business and women's business involve cultural knowledge and ceremonies with gender restrictions governing access and participation. planning.nsw.gov.au
21. 21
    ferretsnounrarecountable

    A group of ferrets, used as the collective noun for the animal.

    I'm sure his goons will go through the ship like a business of ferrets, and they'll want to look in our baggage.

    2004, Dave Duncan, The Jaguar Knights: A Chronicle of the King's Blades

    Note

    One of the fanciful collective nouns for animals, and rare outside playful prose. Dave Duncan's The Jaguar Knights (2004) has goons searching a ship "like a business of ferrets." The joke lies in the restless rummaging the phrase calls up. Its synonym fesnyng is stranger still. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Dave Duncan wrote The Jaguar Knights, first published in 2004. en.wikipedia.org
    • The novel uses the quoted comparison for goons searching a ship. en.wiktionary.org
    • Fesnyng is a synonym for business in the collective sense. en.wiktionary.org