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

“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

These worker groups tend to experience changes in the business cycle more intensely than other workers.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

For Wilson, this reinforces his conviction that the business cycle is ultimately a more important arbiter of market direction than a policy agenda.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 27, 2026

There is nothing innate to human psychology or inherent in modern economies that indicates recessions are part of an inevitable business cycle, he writes in his new book, Recession.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

In fact, whereas reaction to the latter has generally been slow and noticeable only over long periods of time, with a turn in the business cycle, the labor movement reacted surely and instantaneously.

From A History of Trade Unionism in the United States by Perlman, Selig