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t, whether for a longer or shorter time; constant employment; regular occupation; as, the business of life; business before pleasure. Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business Luke ii. 49.

In the manner of one transacting business wisely and by right methods.

In concern with; engaged in; intent on. I must be about my Father's business. Luke ii. 49.

A registry of pecuniary transactions; a written or printed statement of business dealings or debts and credits, and also of other things subjected to a reckoning or review; as, to keep one's account at the bank.

c; diligent; busy; -- opposed to dull, sluggish, indolent, or inert; as, an active man of business; active mind; active zeal.

To suspend business for a time, as from one day to another, or for a longer period, or indefinitely; usually, to suspend public business, as of legislatures and courts, or other convened bodies; as, congress adjourned at four o'clock; the court adjourned without day.

The time or interval during which a public body adjourns its sittings or postpones business.

The building in which the lords of the admiralty, in England, transact business.

Doing; trouble; difficulty; troublesome business; fuss; bustle; as, to make a great ado about trifles. With much ado, he partly kept awake. Dryden. Let's follow to see the end of this ado. Shak.

That which is done or is to be done; matter; concern; as, a difficult affair to manage; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public; -- often in the plural. "At the head of affairs." Junius. "A talent for affairs." Prescott.

The office of an agent, or factor; the relation between a principal and his agent; business of one intrusted with the concerns of another.

who acts for, or in the place of, another, by authority from him; one intrusted with the business of another; a substitute; a deputy; a factor.

Exchange business; also, stockjobbing; the maneuvers of speculators to raise or lower the price of stocks or public funds. Vanity and agiotage are to a Parisian the oxygen and hydrogen of life. Landor.

isdiction or office of an alcalde; also, the building or chamber in which he conducts the business of his office.

his to be a neutral paper." Addison. -- To get along, to get on; to make progress, as in business. "She 'll get along in heaven better than you or I." Mrs. Stowe.

; versed. [Obs.] Though [he] was the youngest brother, yet he was the most ancient in the business of the realm. Berners.

One who announces. Specifically: An officer in the church of Constantinople, whose business it was to inform the people of the festivals to be celebrated.

An examiner; one whose business is to put questions. Formerly, in the English Court of Exchequer, an officer who audited the sheriffs' accounts.

bind to, or put under the care of, a master, for the purpose of instruction in a trade or business.

Matter for question; business in hand. [Obs.] Sheathed their swords for lack of argument. Shak.