enterprise

noun

en·ter·prise | \ ˈen-tər-ˌprīz

, ˈen-tə-ˌprīz\

Definition of enterprise

1 : a project or undertaking that is especially difficult, complicated, or risky

2a : a unit of economic organization or activity especially : a business organization

b : a systematic purposeful activity agriculture is the main economic enterprise among these people

3 : readiness to engage in daring or difficult action : initiative showed great enterprise in dealing with the crisis

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Examples of enterprise in a Sentence

Moving the drilling rig offshore was a costly enterprise. Agriculture is the main economic enterprise among these people. When he purchased the company it was a thriving commercial enterprise. He was criticized for his lack of enterprise in dealing with the crisis.

Recent Examples on the Web

Because for all of their curatorial efforts and goals to extend learning experiences, stores are a commercial enterprise. — Micaela Marini Higgs, Vox, "The complicated relationship between art and commerce has a home in the museum gift shop.," 7 Nov. 2018 First of all, special counsel Mueller has accused a certain private company in Russia that is not even a very big enterprise. — Fox News, "Rep. Trey Gowdy on Helsinki summit fallout," 22 July 2018 Likewise, if your business needs specialized enterprise apps, an admin can lock down the Windows Store to make sure employees get those, and nothing else. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Who needs Windows 10 Pro: 5 reasons to upgrade," 5 Mar. 2019 Powered by a shadow fleet, this multi-billion-dollar criminal enterprise hurts legit fishermen and wreaks environmental havoc through overfishing. — David Hambling, Popular Mechanics, "How Small Satellites Will Help Police Earth's Vast Oceans," 4 Feb. 2019 Software bots reside either on a server or in the cloud and are being built by technical staff at enterprises and professional services firms, using RPA software platforms from vendors. — Sara Castellanos, WSJ, "Unleash the Bots: Firms Report Positive Returns With RPA," 6 Mar. 2019 But the tactic has, instead, served to fragment large, criminal enterprises into smaller groups that are more violent and more local. — New York Times, "Criminal Groups Seek to Decide Outcome in Many Mexican Races," 1 July 2018 Suddenly, saloons, breweries and distilleries—all well-established across the country—became criminal enterprises. — Roger Catlin, Smithsonian, "The Bitter Aftertaste of Prohibition in American History," 9 June 2018 Robling was recently arraigned at the 43rd District Court and is charged with 13 counts of embezzlement by an agent or trustee and one count of conducting a criminal enterprise in Oakland County. — Bryce Airgood, Detroit Free Press, "Ferndale man accused of stealing $60K from estate sales clients," 7 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'enterprise.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near enterprise

Statistics for enterprise

Last Updated

10 Apr 2019

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Time Traveler for enterprise

The first known use of enterprise was in the 15th century

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More Definitions for enterprise

enterprise

noun

English Language Learners Definition of enterprise

: a project or activity that involves many people and that is often difficult

: a business organization

: the ability or desire to do dangerous or difficult things or to solve problems in new ways

See the full definition for enterprise in the English Language Learners Dictionary

enterprise

noun

en·ter·prise | \ ˈen-tər-ˌprīz

Kids Definition of enterprise

1 : a project or undertaking that is difficult, complicated, or risky

2 : willingness to engage in daring or difficult action Look at the opportunities here for a man of knowledge, brains, pluck, and enterprise …— Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee

3 : a business organization or activity