Top Web Results for "busy"

7 results for: busy

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1) - Cite This Source
bus‧y[biz-ee] Pronunciation Key adjective, bus‧i‧er, bus‧i‧est, verb, bus‧ied, bus‧y‧ing.
–adjective
1.actively and attentively engaged in work or a pastime: busy with her work.
2.not at leisure; otherwise engaged: He couldn't see any visitors because he was busy.
3.full of or characterized by activity: a busy life.
4.(of a telephone line) in use by a party or parties and not immediately accessible.
5.officious; meddlesome; prying.
6.ornate, disparate, or clashing in design or colors; cluttered with small, unharmonious details; fussy: The rug is too busy for this room.
–verb (used with object)
7.to keep occupied; make or keep busy: In summer, he busied himself keeping the lawn in order.

[Origin: bef. 1000; ME busi, bisi, OE bysig, bisig; c. MLG, MD besich, D bezig]

1. assiduous, hard-working. Busy, diligent, industrious imply active or earnest effort to accomplish something, or a habitual attitude of such earnestness. Busy means actively employed, temporarily or habitually: a busy official. Diligent suggests earnest and constant effort or application, and usually connotes fondness for, or enjoyment of, what one is doing: a diligent student. Industrious often implies a habitual characteristic of steady and zealous application, often with a definite goal: an industrious clerk working for promotion. 2. occupied, employed, working.
1. indolent. 2. unoccupied.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source
bus·y (bz)  Pronunciation Key  Audio pronunciation of "busy" [P]
adj. bus·i·er, bus·i·est
  1. Engaged in activity, as work; occupied.
  2. Sustaining much activity: a busy morning; a busy street.
  3. Meddlesome; prying.
  4. Being in use, as a telephone line.
  5. Cluttered with detail to the point of being distracting: a busy design.

tr.v. bus·ied, bus·y·ing, bus·ies
To make busy; occupy: busied myself preparing my tax return.


[Middle English bisi, busi, from Old English bysig.]
busi·ly adv.
busy·ness n.
Synonyms: busy, industrious, diligent, assiduous, sedulous
These adjectives suggest active or sustained effort to accomplish something. Busy, the most general, sometimes indicates constant and customary work or activity: a busy lawyer; a busy day. Industrious implies steady application that is often habitual or the result of a natural inclination: weeds pulled by an industrious gardener. Diligent suggests constant painstaking effort, often toward the achievement of a specific goal: a diligent detective. Assiduous emphasizes sustained application: assiduous efforts to learn French. Sedulous adds to assiduous the sense of persistent, thoroughgoing endeavor: “the sedulous pursuit of legal and moral principles” (Ernest van den Haag).

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source

busy

In addition to the idioms beginning with busy, also see get busy.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
WordNet - Cite This Source

busy

adj 1: actively or fully engaged or occupied; "busy with her work"; "a busy man"; "too busy to eat lunch"; "the line is busy" [ant: idle] 2: overcrowded or cluttered with detail; "a busy painting"; "a fussy design" [syn: fussy] 3: intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner; "an interfering old woman"; "bustling about self-importantly making an officious nuisance of himself"; "busy about other people's business" [syn: interfering, meddlesome, meddling, officious, busybodied] 4: crowdedwith or characterized by much activity; "a very busy week"; "a busy life"; "a busy street"; "a busy seaport" 5: (of facilities such as telephones or lavatories) unavailable for use by anyone else or indicating unavailability; (`engaged' is a British term for a busy telephone line); "her line is busy"; "receptionists' telephones are always engaged"; "the lavatory is in use"; "kept getting a busy signal" [syn: engaged, in use(p)] v : keep busy with; "She busies herself with her butterfly collection" [syn: occupy]

WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University
U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source

busy, KY
  Zip code(s): 41723

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau
Acronym Finder - Cite This Source

busy

BUSY: in Acronym Finder

Acronym Finder, © 1988-2004 Mountain Data Systems
On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source

busy

busy: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary

On-line Medical Dictionary, © 1997-98 Academic Medical Publishing & CancerWEB

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