big business
Major commercial enterprises
Big business refers to large corporations and commercial enterprises collectively, especially when considered as a powerful economic or political force.
The term often carries skeptical or critical connotations, suggesting entities more concerned with profit than people: Big business has too much influence in Washington.
It can also simply describe the scale of commercial activity: Weddings have become big business.
- conglomerateCorporation spanning many industries
- companyCommercial enterprise or guests
- Fortune 500Largest American companies ranking
- corporationLegally separate business entity
- oligopolyFew firms dominate market
hostile takeover · finance · mergers · enterprise · monopolies · industry · market dominance · too big to fail · special interests · robber barons · big money · deep pockets · multinational corporations · fat cats · firm · acquisitions · big labor · smoke-filled room
- business typescorporation, sole proprietorship, partnership, nonprofit, startup
- power playerspower brokers, insiders, dealmakers, influencers, kingmakers
- monopoliesmonopoly, Standard Oil, AT&T, De Beers, Ma Bell
- manufacturingfactories, factory, car factory, assembly plants, electronics factory
big businesssmall business
Modest independent commercial venture
mom-and-pop store · small enterprise · cottage industry · sole proprietorship · family business
big businessMain Street
Town's central thoroughfare
local economy · labor · working class · consumers · the common people
big businessworker cooperative
Firm owned by its labor force
cooperative · social enterprise · nonprofit organization · public sector · collective
business, bigger, biggest, bigness, businesses, biggish, bigs, biggie