/ˈbɪznəs ||; ˈbɪznɪs/noun
1 [U] buying and selling as a way of earning money; commerce 生意;商业:
She's planning to set up in business as a hairdresser. 她打算做理发师的生意。
I'm going to go into business with my brother. 我准备跟我的弟弟一起经商。
They are very easy to do business with. 跟他们做生意很利落。
2 [U] the work that you do as your job 业务:
The manager will be away on business next week. 经理下周出差去。
a business trip 出差
3 [U] the number of customers that a person or company has had 顾客量;生意额:
Business has been good for the time of year. 这个时节生意一直挺不错。
4 [C] a firm, a shop, a factory, etc which produces or sells goods or provides a service 公司;商号:
She aims to start a business of her own. 她打算自己开公司。
Small businesses are finding it hard to survive at the moment. 这个时候,小企业要求生存很困难。
5 [U] something that concerns a particular person 跟某人有关的事情;本分:
The friends I choose are my business, not yours. 交什么样的朋友是我自己的事,你管不着。
Our business is to collect the information, not to comment on it. 我们的工作是搜集资料,不是就这些资料发表评论。
‘How much did it cost?’ ‘It's none of your business! ’(= I don't want to tell you. It's private.) “这个花了多少钱?”“不关你的事!”
6 [U] important matters that need to be dealt with or discussed 须要处理或讨论的要事:
First we have some unfinished business from the last meeting to deal with. 首先,我们要处理上次会议没有解决的事情。
7 [sing] a situation or an event, especially one that is strange or unpleasant 事情,事件(尤指奇怪或令人不快的事情):
The divorce was an awful business. 离婚那事真叫人难堪。
I found the whole business very depressing. 整件事情使我沮丧不已。
get down to business to start the work that has to be done 着手做(工作):
Let's just have a cup of coffee before we get down to business. 我们先喝点咖啡再干活去吧。
go out of business to have to close because there is no more money available 倒闭:
The shop went out of business because it couldn't compete with the new supermarket. 这家商店不是那新开张的超级市场的对手,只好关门大吉。
have no business to do sth/doing sth to have no right to do sth 没有权利做某事:
You have no business to read/reading my letters without asking me. 没有我的同意你没有权利看我的信。
mind your own business→
MIND²
monkey business→
MONKEY