big business

American  

noun

1. large business, commercial, and financial firms taken collectively, especially when considered as a group having shared attitudes and goals and exercising control over economic policy, politics, etc.

2. any large organization of a noncommercial nature resembling this.

3. any large business enterprise.

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big business British  

noun

1. large commercial organizations collectively, esp when considered as exploitative or socially harmful

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big business Cultural  

1. Large corporations, as opposed to small individually or family-owned businesses.

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Etymology

Origin of big business

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

big business

Remakes are big business in the gaming industry - something gaming expert Christopher Dring said can come down to "financial necessity".

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

Sports are big business for prediction markets, and soccer is the number-one sport outside of the U.S.

From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026

A smaller oil producer and less affluent country than most of its peers in the Persian Gulf, Muscat lacks the muscle inside the Beltway that comes with big business and military contracts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

Despite that forecast, Intel still expects packaging to become a big business.

From MarketWatch ● May 11, 2026

Going into the Renaissance, artificial memory continued as big business.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

Related Words

• business
• commerce
• corporation
• management
• production
• trade