Tra từ business - Từ điển Oxford Learners Wordfinder Dictionary

1 business activity (buying and selling)
2 different kinds of businesses
3 running a business
see also ECONOMY, INDUSTRY, BUY, SELL

1 business activity (buying and selling)
- things that are bought and sold: goods (noun plural)
- an organization that provides things that the public needs in everyday life: service
the telephone/train service
- the activity of buying and selling goods and services: business (noun U), trade (noun U), commerce (noun U); adjective: commercial
the arms business ◎ foreign trade ◎ a company's commercial operations ◎ The decision was a purely commercial one; it was not in any way political.
- a man/woman who buys and sells things to make money or who owns a business: businessman/businesswoman (plural businessmen/businesswomen)
- a person who owns or manages a large industrial company: industrialist
- to buy or sell particular goods and services: trade (in sth) (with sb), deal* in sth (with sb)
- a person who buys and sells particular goods and services: dealer, trader
an antiques dealer ◎ market traders (= people who sell things in a market)
- to provide sb/sth with goods or services: supply sth (to sb), supply sb (with sth)
a contract to supply helicopters to Saudi Arabia ◎ Can you supply us with three thousand kilos of cement?
- a person or a company that provides goods: supplier
the Queen's official suppliers of stationery
※ more on supplying sth PROVIDE
- a person who buys things from a particular business: customer
Mrs Windsor is one of our most regular customers.
- a person who receives a service from a professional person: client
to have lunch with a business client
- a country, area or group of people who may want to buy sth: market
The Far Eastern market is expanding fast.
- a business agreement or arrangement: deal
We're hoping to do a deal with a major Colombian coffee company.
- if a deal is successful, it goes* through, you pull it off; if it is not successful, it falls* through
If everything goes to plan the deal should go through on Monday. ◎ We're still hoping to pull off the Saudi deal.
- a written agreement that is signed after a deal is made, to make it legal: contract; to make a written agreement with sb for them to work for you: contract sb (to do sth)
We're signing the contract tomorrow. ◎ Our firm has been contracted to supply stationery to all government offices.
- the amount of goods or services that a country, company, etc buys and sells: business (noun U)
Business is usually slow at this time of year.
- the amount of goods or services that people want: demand (for sth) (noun U)
The demand for windscreens is so high that we'll have to take on more workers.
- the level of demand that there is for a particular thing: market (for sth)
There's a growing market for used cars.
- the amount of sth that is sold: sales (noun plural)
Sales are up 20%.
※ business with other countries
- to send goods from one country to another: export sth; noun (U): export
the export of cars to Europe
- to bring goods into one country from another country: import sth; noun (U): import
- goods which are exported: exports (noun plural); goods which are imported: imports (noun plural)
food exports
- a person who brings things from another country to sell them in their own country: importer
- a person who sends things to another country to sell them: exporter
※ competition
- a situation where two or more companies are trying to sell the same thing to the same people: competition (noun U); verb: compete (against/with sb/sth) (for sth)
Increased competition from supermarkets has forced many small shops to close. ◎ My language school is in competition with ten others in this area. ◎ We can't compete with these foreign companies, as their labour costs are so low.
- a situation in which one company controls a market or an industry: monopoly
They have a virtual monopoly on computers in our country.

2 different kinds of businesses
- an organization that produces or sells goods or services: company, firm
to set up a new company ◎ an engineering firm
- a firm, shop, factory, etc which produces or sells goods or provides a service: business
- owned by an individual or a group of people: private; owned by the government: state-owned
a private company/business
- when a government takes control of a business, it nationalizes it; noun (U): nationalization
nationalized industries
- when a government passes control of a state-owned business to a private company, it privatizes it; noun (U): privatization
British Airways was privatized during the 1980s.
- a business that is owned and run by all the people who work in it: cooperative; adjective: cooperative
a manufacturing cooperative ◎ a cooperative farm
- a large company that has offices, factories, etc in many countries: multinational; adjective: multinational
- (in Britain) a large company that sells shares in itself to the public: public limited company (abbreviation plc)

3 running a business
- to start and organize a business: go* into business, set*/start up sth, establish sth; noun (U): establishment
They're planning to go into business together. ◎ I want to set up a record company. ◎ This company was established in 1894.
- when one company buys or starts to control another company, it takes* it over; noun: takeover
The firm was taken over by a French company in 1994.
- to cause a business to stop working: shut* sth down, close sth down; if a business stops working, it shuts* down, closes down
Many businesses have had to close down because of the poor state of the economy.
※ investment
- to put money in the bank or into a business so as to make a profit: invest (sth) (in sth); noun (U): investment
He invested all his money in a property company.
- an amount of money that has been put in a business: investment
- a person who puts money into a company because they hope to make a profit: investor
- one of the equal parts into which the money of a business company has been divided: share
I own three hundred shares in BP.
- a person who owns shares in a company: shareholder
- a person whose job is to buy and sell shares in companies: stockbroker
- the part of a company's profits that is paid to the people who own shares in it: dividend
- a place where shares are bought and sold: stock exchange
- the business of buying and selling shares: the stock market
to make money on the stock market
※ management
- to organize and control a business: run* sth, manage sth; noun (U): management
I run a small computer firm. ◎ We need to improve the management of this business.
- one of the sections that a business is divided into: department; adjective: departmental
the sales department ◎ the personnel department ◎ a departmental meeting
- a person who controls a company: manager; the group of people who manage a company: management (with singular or plural verb)
※ more on managing sth MANAGEMENT
- a person who gives advice to people about their business: consultant
a management consultant
- a person who you know who may be able to help you in your business: contact
I have some useful contacts in Berlin.
※ finances
- the money that a business has: finances (noun plural); adjective: financial
We can expect a significant improvement in our finances in the next financial year. ◎ We're in a terrible financial situation.
- a person who provides money for big businesses and other organizations: financier
- a record of all the money that a person or business spends or receives: accounts (noun plural), books (noun plural); to write down the accounts: do*/keep* the accounts; this kind of work: accountancy (noun U), bookkeeping (noun U)
- a person who keeps accounts, advises on tax, etc: accountant
- the money that a business makes when it sells sth for more than it paid for it: profit (noun C/U); opposite: loss (noun C/U)
Profits are down on last year. ◎ pre-tax profit (= the amount of profit you have before you pay tax on it)
They made a ※£7 million loss last year.
- if a business makes a profit, it is profitable, profit-making, it makes* money
I hope we can make this business profitable by the end of the year. ◎ Does your business make much money?
- the ability of a business to make a profit: profitability (noun U)
- the money that a person or company owes: debt
- if a company does not have enough money to pay all its debts, it is/goes bankrupt, (informal) bust
The firm went bust last July.
※ more on debt DEBT