big business

noun

1. large business, commercial, and financial firms taken collectively, especially when considered as a group having shared attitudes and goals and exercising control over economic policy, politics, etc.

2. any large organization of a noncommercial nature resembling this.

3. any large business enterprise.

big business

noun

1. large commercial organizations collectively, esp when considered as exploitative or socially harmful

big business

1. Large corporations, as opposed to small individually or family-owned businesses.

Word History and Origins

Origin of big business¹

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05

Example Sentences

Dairy farming is big business in south-west Scotland, with Dumfries and Galloway home to almost half of Scotland's dairy herds.

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Selling data on private equity and private credit is becoming big business on Wall Street.

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Business these days, especially big business, is a political target on the left and right.

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“Last week big businesses were looking to buy it up. I said no, we gotta have something for our community. We want to get back to where we used to be.”

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She sought to use the commission’s enforcement authority in ways not seen in decades, leading to clashes with big business.

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Related Words

• business 
• commerce 
• corporation 
• management 
• production 
• trade