business

1. (countable) A specific commercial enterprise or establishment.Examples: "I left my father's business."; "The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies."Synonyms: business, company, enterprise, firmcountable

2. (countable) A person's occupation, work, or trade.Examples: "He is in the motor and insurance businesses."; "I'm going to Las Vegas on business."countable

3. (uncountable) Commercial, industrial, or professional activity.Examples: "He's such a poor cook, I can't believe he's still in business!"; "We do business all over the world."uncountable

4. (uncountable) The volume or amount of commercial trade.Examples: "Business has been slow lately."; "They did nearly a million dollars of business over the long weekend."; "In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And for online adverts the “conversion” into sales was a minuscule 0.01%. That means about $165 billion was spent not on drumming up business, but on annoying people, creating landfill and cluttering spam filters."uncountable

5. (uncountable) One's dealings; patronage.Examples: "I shall take my business elsewhere."uncountable

6. (uncountable) Private commercial interests taken collectively.Examples: "This proposal will satisfy both business and labor."; "Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector."uncountable