out of business
Idioms-
No longer carrying on commercial transactions, as in He's decided to go out of business when he turns sixty-five , or The supermarkets are putting the small grocers out of business .
-
Not in working order, inoperative, as in It looks as though the merry-go-round is out of business tonight . Also see out of commission ; go out , def. 5.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He added they gave their "decent, hardworking" counterparts a bad name and hoped to put "the cowboys out of business".
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Becky Davis, who told the council that she and her husband owned a gun store in Goleta long before the city incorporated in 2002, said: “You zoned me out of business, literally.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
But some smaller enterprises fear they could be put out of business without a resolution to the trade spat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
The tough environment of the past four years or so forced some carriers out of business, particularly smaller companies.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
Farmers were just starting to go out of business up there, and his father always attended those auctions.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
