order of business

Save This Word!

a task assigned or to be dealt with: Our first order of business is to reduce expenses.

QUIZZES

Are you aware how often people swap around “their,” “there,” and “they’re”? Prove you have more than a fair grasp over these commonly confused words.

Question 1 of 7

Which one of these commonly confused words can act as an adverb or a pronoun?

First recorded in 1905–10

And in order for them to realize their vision, they are willing to use any means.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Our Duty Is to Keep Charlie Hebdo Alive|Ayaan Hirsi Ali|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I was a little mystified at how benignly he responded to my questions about his business activities.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This reporter knocked at the Wilkins home on Tuesday morning but received neither an answer nor the business end of a shotgun.
The 7-Year-Old Plane Crash Survivor’s Brutal Journey Through the Woods|James Higdon|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“Competition is there, of course, but I think there is enough business for everyone as long as the demand is there,” he says.
Ghost Ships of the Mediterranean|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Last March they gave Airbus a huge piece of new business, ordering 169 A320s and 65 of the slightly larger A321.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501|Clive Irving|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He remembered something—the cherished pose of being a man plunged fathoms-deep in business.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
On the thirteenth of the same month they bound to the stake, in order to burn alive, a man who had two religious in his house.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
Now this setting up of an orderly law-abiding self seems to me to imply that there are impulses which make for order.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Turn away from sin and order thy hands aright, and cleanse thy heart from all offence.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
Dockier, a prominent leader of the Levelers, in the times of the English commonwealth, was shot by order of the government.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell