out of business

1. 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 .

2. 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

The company is trying to reorganize its finances while continuing to operate rather than going out of business completely.

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Francis, 48, says some of the old-time shoemakers have given up trying to create footwear from scratch, and now just fix the mass-produced shoes that have put them out of business.

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"We have hundreds of members. A large number of the most electro-intensive have gone out of business in the last three years. All of them because of the price of energy. They just cannot be competitive. It's as simple as that."

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"This company was essentially being thought of as going out of business not that long ago," said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide.

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“And China, in this space, can send you out of business.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal