intermeddling; tampering with, intrigue. press of business, no
sinecure, plenty to do, many irons in the fire, great doings, busy hum
of men, battle of life, thick of the action. housewife, busy bee; new
brooms; sharp fellow, sharp blade; devotee, enthusiast, zealot,
meddler, intermeddler, intriguer, busybody, pickthank[obs3]; hummer,
hustler, live man [U.S.], rustler * [U. S.]. V. be active &c. adj.;
busy oneself in; stir, stir about, stir one's stumps; bestir oneself,
rouse oneself; speed, hasten, peg away, lay about one, bustle, fuss;
raise up, kick up a dust; push; make a push, make a fuss, make a stir;
go ahead, push forward; fight one's way, elbow one's way; make progress
&c. 282; toll &c. (labor) 686; plod, persist &c. (persevere) 604a; keep
up the ball, keep the pot boiling. look sharp; have all one's eyes
about one &c. (vigilance) 459; rise, arouse oneself, hustle, get up
early, be about, keep moving, steal a march, kill two birds with one
stone; seize the opportunity &c. 134 lose no time, not lose a moment,
make the most of one's time, not suffer the grass to grow under one's
feet, improve the shining hour, make short work of; dash off; make
haste &c. 684; do one's best take pains &c. (exert oneself) 686; do
wonders, work wonders. have many irons in the fire, have one's hands
full, have much on one's hands; have other things to do, have other
fish to fry; be busy; not have a moment to spare, not have a moment
that one can call one's own. have one's fling, run the round of; go all
lengths, stick at nothing, run riot. outdo; overdo, overact, overlay,
overshoot the mark; make a toil of a pleasure. have a hand in &c. (act
in) 680; take an active part, put in one's oar, have a finger in the
pie, mix oneself up with, trouble, one's head about, intrigue; agitate.
tamper with, meddle, moil; intermeddle, interfere, interpose; obtrude;
poke one's nose in, thrust one's nose in. Adj. active, brisk, brisk as
a lark, brisk as a bee; lively, animated, vivacious; alive, alive and
kicking; frisky, spirited, stirring. nimble, nimble as a squirrel;
agile; light-footed, nimble-footed; featly[obs3], tripping. quick,
prompt, yare[obs3], instant, ready, alert, spry, sharp, smart; fast &c.
(swift) 274; quick as a lamplighter, expeditious; awake, broad awake;
go-ahead, live wide-awake &c. (intelligent) 498[U.S.]. forward, eager,
strenuous, zealous, enterprising, in earnest; resolute &c. 604.
industrious, assiduous, diligent, sedulous, notable, painstaking;
intent &c. (attention) 457; indefatigable &c. (persevering) 604a;
unwearied; unsleeping[obs3], never tired; plodding, hard-working &c.
686; businesslike, workaday. bustling; restless, restless as a hyena;
fussy, fidgety, pottering; busy, busy as hen with one chicken. working,
at work, on duty, in harness; up in arms; on one's legs, at call; up
and doing, up and stirring. busy, occupied; hard at work, hard at it;
up to one's ears in, full of business, busy as a bee, busy as a
one-armed paperhanger. meddling &c. v.; meddlesome, pushing, officious,
overofficious[obs3], intrigant[obs3]. astir, stirring; agoing[obs3],
afoot; on foot; in full swing; eventful; on the alert, &c. (vigilant)