Business \Busi"ness\, n.; pl. Businesses. [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.

Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? --Luke ii. 49.

2. Any particular occupation or employment engaged in for livelihood or gain, as agriculture, trade, art, or a profession. ``The business of instruction.'' --Prescott.

3. Financial dealings; buying and selling; traffic in general; mercantile transactions.

It seldom happens that men of a studious turn acquire any degree of reputation for their knowledge of business. --Bp. Popteus.

4. That which one has to do or should do; special service, duty, or mission.

The daughter of the King of France, On serious business, craving quick despatch, Importunes personal conference. --Shak.

What business has the tortoise among the clouds? --L'Estrange.

5. Affair; concern; matter; -- used in an indefinite sense, and modified by the connected words.

It was a gentle business, and becoming The action of good women. --Shak.

Bestow Your needful counsel to our business. --Shak.

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.

7. Care; anxiety; diligence. [Obs.]

--Chaucer.

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.]

Syn: Affairs; concern; transaction; matter; engagement; employment; calling; occupation; trade; profession; vocation; office; duty.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)