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Glite Dictionary
to take care of business

to take care of business

34 3.8
To handle important tasks or responsibilities
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : ocuparse de los asuntos
  • She promised to take care of business and complete all her tasks before the end of the day.
  • just take care of business
  • go take care of business
  • got to take care of business

You're on the job, you're taking care of business.

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Examples

  • We have to take care of ourselves and take care of business.

    Blog text (8)

  • I took care of business on my end.

    Assassins (1995)

  • Okay, girls, from here on out, we're gonna take care of business ourselves.

    Shrek the Third (2007)

  • Then we can take care of business.

    A Perfect World (1993)

  • You take care of business.

    Sweet and Lowdown (1999)

  • We will get to them tomorrow when we are ready to take care of business.

    Blog text (28)

  • We have to make sure we're taking care of business and getting better.

    Blog text (19)

  • But right now, it's all about taking care of business and finishing the season off right.

    Blog text (1)

  • And I felt like somehow all the people that I trusted to take care of business were not taking care of it.

    Bussin' With The Boys

  • Don't worry, Warden, we'll take care of business.

    The Longest Yard (2005)

Synonyms

to take care
vsto take care of business
∞ 1.3

To look after a person or thing and deal with their needs

focuses on important tasks and responsibilities rather than general provision
to take care of
vsto take care of business
∞ 1.3

To look after someone or deal with a problem

focuses on attending important matters rather than personal welfare
to handle
vsto take care of business
∞ 2.1

Deal with a task, person, or situation

focuses on attending important matters rather than general situation control
to manage
vsto take care of business
239 2.3

To hold and use things carefully so they do not break or fall

emphasizes attending important matters rather than steering operations
to see about
vsto take care of business
  • Informal
91 3.0

To arrange and take care of something

is about doing necessary tasks themselves rather than only arranging details

Antonyms

to neglect
256 3.8

Fail to care for someone or something you should look after

How Thorough

to resolve
623 3.3
to manage
239 2.3
to take care of business
34 3.8
to handle
∞ 2.1
to attend to
151 3.6

Surface Forms

take care of business infinitive
took care of business past
taken care of business past participle
taking care of business present participle
takes care of business third person singular

Morphology

take + care + of + business

The meaning 'attend to important matters' is directly derivable from the constituents: 'take care of' means to attend to or look after, and 'business' here means matters or tasks. This is a regular compositional pattern (attend to + noun) found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the words would likely understand the phrase.

Etymology

The phrase take care of business comes from the simple image of a shop owner who must take care of the day's money and papers, the shop's business, before they leave. That's why it now means 'to handle important tasks'.