line of business
8
3.1
- noun
:
línea de negocio
- Is there a lot of money to be made in that line of business?
- eleven lines of business
- other lines of business
Examples
-
She decided to branch out into a new line of business, focusing on eco-friendly products.
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Then what line of business are you in?
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And of course, in this line of business, anything can happen.
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Perhaps we ought to talk about your line of business.
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My son is not in your line of business.
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And you might say that this is my line of business.
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You get to meet some real strange people in my line of business.
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What line of business are you in?
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It's not good for you, especially in my line of business.
Fiction book (1991) -
So, what line of business are you in, Mr Adams?
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A company or shop and the people who work there
∞
2.9
A particular area of study or work
575
3.0
A company or service that moves people and goods
59
7.7
A type of business or industry someone works in
2
3.2
A group of similar products or services that a company sells
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositional: 'line' (sense of product or activity line) combined with 'of' + 'business' yields the area or product family a company operates in. This 'line of X' pattern is common in English and other languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will very likely infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrase line of business comes from shops where goods were shown in a long line, each line for one kind of business or product. That's why the phrase now means 'a particular type of work or product' a company does.