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in business

in business

278 2.7
Working to sell things or running a company like a shop
  • idiom
translation icon : estar en el negocio
  • After years of hard work, she is finally in business as the owner of her own café.
  • stay in business
  • remain in business
  • participate in business

They'll want to be in business with you in some way.

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Examples

  • Everyone in business tries to get ahead.

  • If you made such a commitment in business, you'd kill yourself to see it through.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Can a company make stay in business unless it does these things?

  • I want to get this city back in business as soon as possible.

  • Well, being in business for yourself has its advantages.

  • They'll want to be in business with you in some way.

  • Make no mistake about it, guys and gals, you are in business to make money.

  • My actual happiest place is in business creation and operations.

  • The one key, the one key that unlocks wealth in business is distribution.

  • You are both ethical in business and certainly farsighted socially.

Antonyms

16 3.0

Not taking part in an activity, job, or group

How Operational

in business
278 2.7
to start up
16 3.2

Surface Forms

Morphology

in + business

The meaning is directly compositional: 'in' marks participation or location and 'business' denotes commercial activity, so 'in business' straightforwardly means engaged in commercial activity. This preposition+noun pattern is common and has clear equivalents across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words will likely infer the meaning.

Etymology

The phrase in business comes from the image of a shop with its door open and the owner standing in the business selling goods. So, it means 'open' and active in trade or work.