big business
Americannoun
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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.
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any large organization of a noncommercial nature resembling this.
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any large business enterprise.
noun
Etymology
Origin of big business
An Americanism dating back to 1900–05
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Despite that forecast, Intel still expects packaging to become a big business.
From MarketWatch • May 11, 2026
What is clear though is that robotic weapon systems are big business.
From BBC • May 6, 2026
From its Bahrain base overlooking a manicured cove in Manama, Vitol over decades built a big business supplying Persian Gulf oil to Asia.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026
The most important night in Hollywood has become big business for prediction markets.
From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026
“Himself not especially susceptible to flattery except in a sentimental way, he soon learned its efficacy when plastered thick on big business men,” Sullivan wrote.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
