big business

American  

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.

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big business British  

noun

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

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big business Cultural  

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

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Etymology

Origin of big business

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

big business

The deal is the latest indication of how financial products and services catering to American retirees and older workers have become big business on Wall Street.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

Sports trading cards are big business in the United States with collectors paying north of $10 million in recent years for cards featuring former NBA stars Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant and MLB's Shohei Ohtani.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

Thomson Reuters bumped up its revenue targets for the year after logging double-digit growth across its three big business segments in the latest quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Is Pride still meaningful or just big business?

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Going into the Renaissance, artificial memory continued as big business.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

Related Words

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