Search the Dictionary

t of casting and working in lead, and applying it to building purposes; especially, the business of furnishing, fitting, and repairing pipes for conducting water, sewage, etc. Gwilt.

sperous conditions or good results; unfavorable; unfortunate; unconformable; as, a poor business; the sick man had a poor night.

ttle or no success; indifferently; with little profit or advantage; as, to do poorly in business.

r mailable matter, are received and distributed; a place appointed for attending to all business connected with the mail. (b) The governmental system for forwarding mail matter. -- Postoffice order. See Money order, under Money. -- Post road, or Post route, a road or way over which the mail is carried. -- Post town.…

Hence, vested authority to act in a given case; as, the business was referred to a committee with power.

pplication of science to the wants of men; the exercise of any profession; professional business; as, the practice of medicine or law; a large or lucrative practice. Practice is exercise of an art, or the application of a science in life, which application is itself an art. Sir W. Hamilton.

Of or pertaining to business or to affairs; of the nature of business; practical; material; businesslike in habit or manner. The next day . . . I began to be very pragmatical. Evelyn. We can not always be contemplative, diligent, or pragmatical, abroad; but have need of some delightful intermissions. Milton. Low, pragm…

eforehand, especially to disadvantage; to prejudge. Our dearest friend Prejudicates the business. Shak.

Introductory; previous; preceding the main discourse or business; prefatory; as, preliminary observations to a discourse or book; preliminary articles to a treaty; preliminary measures; preliminary examinations.

ess; the present state of affairs; the present instance. I'll bring thee to the present business Shak.

The art or business of printing and publishing; hence, printed publications, taken collectively, more especially newspapers or the persons employed in writing for them; as, a free press is a blessing, a licentious press is a curse.

Urgency; as, the pressure of business.

e of impressing letters, characters, or figures on paper, cloth, or other material; the business of a printer, including typesetting and presswork, with their adjuncts; typography; also, the act of producing photographic prints. Block printing. See under Block. -- Printing frame (Photog.), a shallow box, usually havin…

Personal interest; particular business.[Obs.] Nor must I be unmindful of my private. B. Jonson.

A private matter or business; a secret. Chaucer.

progress or movement from one thing to another; a measure or step taken in a course of business; a transaction; as, an illegal proceeding; a cautious or a violent proceeding. The proceedings of the high commission. Macaulay.

To manage business for another in court. [Scot.]

ion, if not mechanical, agricultural, or the like, to which one devotes one's self; the business which one professes to understand, and to follow for subsistence; calling; vocation; employment; as, the profession of arms; the profession of a clergyman, lawyer, or physician; the profession of lecturer on chemistry. Hi t…

of learning; especially, an officer in a university, college, or other seminary, whose business it is to read lectures, or instruct students, in a particular branch of learning; as a professor of theology, of botany, of mathematics, or of political economy.

One who has made considerable advances in any business, art, science, or branch of learning; an expert; an adept; as, proficient in a trade; a proficient in mathematics, music, etc.