big business

noun

1

: an economic group consisting of large profit-making corporations especially with regard to their influence on social or political policy

2

: a very profitable enterprise

Examples of big business in a Sentence

The tax proposal will be of most benefit to big business.

Tourism is big business in the region.

Recent Examples on the Web

Surrogacy is a big business in which wealthy people use expensive lawyers and agencies to hire less wealthy people to bear their kids. — Arthur L. Caplan, STAT, 18 Aug. 2026

In practice, Mamdani, who claims to loathe oligarchy and big business, is asking Amazon to destroy over 40 small businesses and subsume their economic power. — Tiana Lowe Doescher, The Washington Examiner, 15 Aug. 2026

Filmmaking is big business in Illinois, with expenditures in the state reaching a record $703 million in 2025, according to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Office of Film. — Steve Zalusky, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026

This amounts to the government getting off the backs of the people so big business can saddle up. — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1905, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for big business

• agribusiness
• nonbusiness