business cycle

American  

noun

1. a recurrent fluctuation in the total business activity of a country.

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business cycle British  

noun

1. Also called: trade cycle.  the recurrent fluctuation between boom and depression in the economic activity of a capitalist country

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business cycle Cultural  

1. A period during which business activity reaches a low point, recovers, expands, reaches a high point, decreases to a new low point, and so on.

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Etymology

Origin of business cycle

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

business cycle

“It has had a very successful run, a high rate of growth, it’s not as subject to the fluctuations of the business cycle as maybe other things are.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

Executives can’t control the business cycle or share prices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

“The business cycle would be well served if you move early and have to move less, than move later and have to move more,” she said.

From MarketWatch ● May 30, 2026

For investors, healthcare stocks are beneficiaries of a trend that doesn’t have much to do with the business cycle, that monetary policy can’t slow, and that demographics won’t reverse.

From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026

The   government hopes to establish a new growth path that will be less   vulnerable to the external business cycle and will continue efforts   to establish Singapore as Southeast Asia's financial and high-tech   hub.

From The 2006 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency