what one is doing, what one is about; affair, concern, matter, case.
matter in hand, irons in the fire; thing to do, agendum, task,
work, job, chore [U.S.], errand, commission, mission, charge, care;
duty &c 926.
part, role, cue; province, function, lookout, department,
capacity, sphere, orb, field, line; walk, walk of life; beat, round,
routine; race, career.
office, place, post, chargeship†, incumbency, living; situation,
berth, employ; service &c (servitude) 749; engagement; undertaking &c
676.
vocation, calling, profession, cloth, faculty; industry, art;
industrial arts; craft, mystery, handicraft; trade &c (commerce) 794.
exercise; work &c (action) 680; avocation; press of business &c
(activity) 682.
V. pass one's time in, employ one's time in, spend one's time in;
employ oneself in, employ oneself upon; occupy oneself with, concern
oneself with; make it one's business &c n.; undertake &c 676; enter a
profession; betake oneself to, turn one's hand to; have to do with &c
(do) 680.
office, place, post, chargeship†, incumbency, living; situation,
berth, employ; service &c (servitude) 749; engagement; undertaking &c
676.
drive a trade; carry on a trade, do a trade, transact a trade,
carry on business, do business, transact business &c n.; keep a shop;
ply one's task, ply one's trade; labor in one's vocation; pursue the
even tenor of one's way; attend to business, attend to one's work.
officiate, serve, act; act one's part, play one's part; do duty;
serve the office of, discharge the office of, perform the office of,
perform the duties of, perform the functions of; hold an office, fill
an office, fill a place, fill a situation; hold a portfolio, hold a
place, hold a situation.
be about, be doing, be engaged in, be employed in, be occupied
with, be at work on; have one's hands in, have in hand; have on one's
hands, have on one's shoulders; bear the burden; have one's hands full
&c (activity) 682.
be in the hands of, be on the stocks, be on the anvil; pass
through one's hands.
Adj. businesslike; workaday; professional; official, functional; busy
&c (actively employed) 682; on hand, in hand, in one's hands; afoot; on
foot, on the anvil; going on; acting.
Adv. in the course of business, all in one's day's work; professionally
&c Adj..
Phr. a business with an income at its heels [Cowper]; amoto quaeramus
seria ludo [Lat.] [Horace]; par negotiis neque supra [Lat.] [Tacitus].