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To transact business; to carry on trade. [Obs.] Hammond.

Hence, mercantile business; trading. [Obs.] Who had lost, with these prizes, forty thousand pounds, after twenty years' negotiation in the East Indies. Evelyn.

The state of being busy; multitude of business. [Obs.]

Very busy; attentive to business; active. [R.] D. Rogers.

A sinew or a tendon. Pope.

possessing nerve; sinewy; strong; vigorous. "Nervous arms." Pope.

Strong; sinewy. "His nervy knees." Keats.

ret or sting; to irritate or vex; to cause to experience sensations of displeasure or uneasiness not amounting to violent anger. The princes were so nettled at the scandal of this affront, that every man took it to himself. L'Estrange.

One whose business is emptying privies by night.

r eating or by digestive or nervous troubles, and characterized by a sense of extreme uneasiness or discomfort (as of weight on the chest or stomach, impossibility of motion or speech, etc.), or by frightful or oppressive dreams, from which one wakes after extreme anxiety, in a troubled state of mind; incubus. Dungliso…

quick motion; to make a slight bow; to make a motion of assent, of salutation, or of drowsiness, with the head; as, to nod at one.

person connected with an army, or within the lines of an army, who does not make it his business to fight, as any one of the medical officers and their assistants, chaplains, and others; also, any of the citizens of a place occupied by an army; also, any one holding a similar position with respect to the navy.…

Need; needful business. [Obs.] Chaucer.

One who is new in any business, profession, or calling; one unacquainted or unskilled; one yet in the rudiments; a beginner; a tyro. I am young; a novice in the trade. Dryden.

One who hinders progress; one who obstructs business, as in a legislative body. -- a.

That which occupies or engages the time and attention; the principal business of one's life; vocation; employment; calling; trade. Absence of occupation is not rest. Cowper. Occupation bridge (Engin.), a bridge connecting the parts of an estate separated by a railroad, a canal, or an ordinary road.

To do business in; to busy one's self with. [Obs.] All the ships of the sea, with their mariners, were in thee to occupy the merchandise. Ezek. xxvii. 9. Not able to occupy their old crafts. Robynson (More's Utopia).

Designating a time when one is not strictly attentive to business or affairs, or is absent from his post, and, hence, a time when affairs are not urgent; as, he took an off day for fishing: an off year in politics. "In the off season." Thackeray. Off side. (a) The right hand side in driving; the farther side. See Gee.…

The place where a particular kind of business or service for others is transacted; a house or apartment in which public officers and others transact business; as, the register's office; a lawyer's office.

To act as an officer in performing a duty; to transact the business of an office or public trust; to conduct a public service. Bp. Stillingfleet.