order of business

noun

1. a task assigned or to be dealt with.

   Our first order of business is to reduce expenses.

Word History and Origins

Origin of order of business¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Now that the government shutdown has officially ended, the next order of business will be a backlog of economic data.

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It was widely suspected that among Kennedy’s first orders of business would be to do away with vaccines.

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Her first order of business, however, is pitting the scowling Ritter and bland, industrious Wittmers, who had managed a bearable distance so far, against each other.

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Rebuilding individual houses is of course the first order of business.

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When the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan three years ago, one of the group’s first orders of business was to systematically erase women’s rights.

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Related Words

• order of the day