Synonyms for business

modified

financial, monetary, commercial, trade; see commercial 1.

noun

Industry and trade
commerce, exchange, trade, traffic, barter, industry, venture, commercial enterprise, gainful occupation, buying and selling, negotiation, production and distribution, dealings, affairs, sales, contracts, bargaining, trading, transaction, banking, marketing, merchandising, custom, undertaking, speculation, haggling, market, mercantilism, wholesale and retail, capital and labor, laissez-faire, free enterprise, game*, racket*, wheeling and dealing*.
Occupation
trade, profession, vocation; see job 1, profession 1, trade 2.
One's proper concerns
affair, concern, interest; see affair 1.
A commercial enterprise
firm, company, factory, manufacturer, mill, store, shop, corporation, concern, combine, establishment, enterprise, partnership, institution, house, outfit, market, conglomerate, consortium, syndicate, cartel, trust, monopoly, holding company, mutual company, pool.
Some large well-known businesses include: Amoco, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), Boeing Corporation, Chevron, Chrysler Corporation, Coca-Cola, ConAgra, Dow Chemical, Eastman Kodak, Exxon, Ford Motor Company, General Dynamics, General Electric, General Motors, DuPont, International Business Machines (IBM), Microsoft, Union Carbide, International Telephone and Telegraph (IT & T), Mobil Oil, PepsiCo, Philip Morris, Procter & Gamble, Shell Oil, Sony, Texaco, Xerox.
The business cycle
market, trade, volume of trade, patronage, upward trend, downward trend; see also sense 1.

business, in this comparison, refers generally to the buying and selling of commodities and services and connotes a profit motive; commerce and trade both refer to the distribution or exchange of commodities, esp. as this involves their transportation, but commerce generally implies such activity on a large scale between cities, countries, etc.; industry refers chiefly to the large-scale manufacture of commodities

do business with

deal with, trade with, patronize, employ; see buy 1, sell 1, treat 1.

get the business*

be mistreated, be abused, be scolded; see endure 2, suffer 1.

give the business*

mistreat, bother, victimize, give a tongue-lashing*; see abuse 1, bother 2, scold.

mean business

be serious, be in earnest, stress, impress; see emphasize, intend 1, resolve 1.

See business in American Heritage Dictionary 4 Synonyms

business industry commerce trade traffic

These nouns apply to forms of activity that have the objective of supplying commodities. Business pertains broadly to commercial, financial, and industrial activity: decided to go into the oil business.
Industry entails the production and manufacture of goods or commodities, especially on a large scale: the computer industry.
Commerce and trade refer to the exchange and distribution of goods or commodities: laws regulating interstate commerce; involved in the domestic fur trade.
Traffic pertains in particular to businesses engaged in the transportation of goods or passengers: renovated the docks to attract shipping traffic.
The word may also suggest illegal trade: discovered a brisk traffic in stolen goods.

Synonyms for business

do business with

get the business*

give the business*

mean business

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