busy

Definition of busy

7 senses · 3 parts of speech · etymology included

adj

Crowded with business or activities; having a great deal going on.

“Be careful crossing that busy street.”
“To-morrow is a busy day.”
“Although they had but that moment left the school behind them, they were now in the busy thoroughfares of a city, where shadowy passengers passed and repassed; where shadowy carts and coaches battled for the way, and all the strife and tumult of a real city were.[…]They left the busy scene, and went into an obscure part of the town, where Scrooge had never penetrated before, although he recognised its situation, and its bad repute.”
“With hours to go before their labor contract expired, longshoremen on the East and Gulf Coasts prepared on Monday to go on strike at midnight, halting most activity at some of the busiest U.S. ports.”

See all 7 definitions

adj

Crowded with business or activities; having a great deal going on.

“Be careful crossing that busy street.”
“To-morrow is a busy day.”
“Although they had but that moment left the school behind them, they were now in the busy thoroughfares of a city, where shadowy passengers passed and repassed; where shadowy carts and coaches battled for the way, and all the strife and tumult of a real city were.[…]They left the busy scene, and went into an obscure part of the town, where Scrooge had never penetrated before, although he recognised its situation, and its bad repute.”
“With hours to go before their labor contract expired, longshoremen on the East and Gulf Coasts prepared on Monday to go on strike at midnight, halting most activity at some of the busiest U.S. ports.”
Engaged with or preoccupied by an activity or person.

“The director cannot see you now: he's busy.”
“Her telephone has been busy all day.”
“He is busy with piano practice.”
“Ramzi is busy getting ready for meetings.”
“Go away, I’m busy sleeping!”
Having much work to do; having much to get done.

“Near-synonym: swamped”
“Finding the time to work out and cook healthy meals is easily pushed to the wayside in our ordinary, busy lives.”
Having a lot going on; complicated or intricate.

“Flowers, stripes, and checks in the same fabric make for a busy pattern.”
Officious; meddling.

“I will be hanged if some eternal villain, Some busy and insinuating rogue, Some cogging, cozening slave, to get some office, Have not devised this slander; I'll be hanged else.”

noun

(UK, derogatory, slang)A police officer.

“I remember playing on a building site once and coming across a five-pound note. I could hardly believe it when I spotted it poking out of the rubble. Excitedly, I ran straight home and gave it to my mum. I was hero of the hour until I got into trouble with the busies – the police – soon afterwards for pinching a bottle of milk from a float.”

verb

(reflexive, transitive, usually)To make somebody busy or active; to occupy.

“On my vacation I'll busy myself with gardening.”
“The work busied me all afternoon.”
“They busied themselves with the tea.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English bisy, busie, from Old English bisiġ (“busy, occupied, diligent”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisīg (“diligent; zealous; busy”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian biesich (“active, diligent, hard-working, industrious”), Dutch bezig…

See full etymology

From Middle English bisy, busie, from Old English bisiġ (“busy, occupied, diligent”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisīg (“diligent; zealous; busy”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian biesich (“active, diligent, hard-working, industrious”), Dutch bezig (“busy”), Low German besig (“busy”). The spelling with ⟨u⟩ represents the pronunciation of the West Midland and Southern dialects while the Modern English pronunciation with /ɪ/ is from the dialects of the East Midlands.

Anagrams of busy

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3-letter words

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2-letter words

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