mean business
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What kinds of questions do they ask that lets you know that they’re informed or they mean business?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
Drones and anti-drones mean business for a host of defense startups and established players.
From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026
Nearly a week after taking the keys to the battered media company, Ellison and his top executives met with reporters at the Paramount Pictures lot Wednesday to show that they mean business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2025
"And we mean business on this, because far too many people are not getting these homes."
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2025
But I decide to include it because anything that can start out floating around defenseless in the ocean that size—and then defeat the odds to grow into this powerful creature—has to mean business.
From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden
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.
