busy

bus·y

Use busy in a sentence

A toddler busy in the garden.

adjective

The definition of busy is being occupied with tasks or being crowded and full of activity.

An example of busy is an executive with 10 meetings in a day.
An example of busy is when you fill your time with gardening.
An example of busy is when a restaurant has every table full.

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"busy." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Busy>.

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busy. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Busy

busy

adjective

bus′i·er, bus′i·est

occupied in some activity; at work; not idle
full of activity; characterized by much action or motion
1. in use at the moment, as a telephone line
2. indicating such use: the busy signal
meddlesome
having so much detail, variety of color, etc. as to create a confusing, displeasing effect

Origin of busy

Middle English busi from Old English bisig, occupied, diligent; akin to Dutch bezig: seen only in Low German and eastern; English

transitive verb

bus′ied, bus′y·ing

to make or keep busy: often used reflexively

Origin of busy

ME busien < OE bisgian, to occupy, employ < bisgu, occupation, labor

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MLA Style

"busy." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Busy>.

APA Style

busy. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Busy

busy

adjective

bus·i·er, bus·i·est

Engaged in activity, as work; occupied. See Synonyms at active.
Characterized by or sustaining much activity: a busy morning; a busy street.
Being a busybody; meddlesome; prying.
Being in use, as a telephone line.
Cluttered with detail to the point of being distracting: a busy design.

transitive verb

bus·ied, bus·y·ing, bus·ies

To make busy; occupy: busied myself preparing my tax return.

Origin of busy

Middle English bisi, busi from Old English bysig

Related Forms:

bus′i·ly
adverb

bus′y·ness
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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MLA Style

"busy." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Busy>.

APA Style

busy. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Busy

busy

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).

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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MLA Style

"busy." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Busy>.

APA Style

busy. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Busy

Adjective

(comparative busier, superlative busiest)

Crowded with business or activities; having a great deal going on.
a busy street
Engaged in another activity or by someone else.
The director cannot see you now, he's busy.
Her telephone has been busy all day.
She is too busy to have time for riddles.
Having a lot going on; complicated or intricate.
Flowers, stripes, and checks in the same fabric make for a busy pattern.
Officious; meddling.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present busies, present participle busying, simple past and past participle busied)

To make somebody busy, to keep busy with, to occupy, to make occupied.
To rush somebody.

Origin

From Middle English busi, besy, bisi, from Old English bysiġ, *biesiġ, bisiġ (“busy, occupied, diligent”). Cognate with Dutch bezig (“busy”), Low German besig (“busy”), Old Frisian bisgia (“to use”), Old English bisgian (“to occupy, employ, trouble, afflict”).

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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MLA Style

"busy." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Busy>.

APA Style

busy. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Busy

busy - Computer Definition

The condition that exists when a central office (CO), PBX, destination telephone circuit, or other voice telecommunications component is in use at its full capacity and not available to accept additional calls. If a caller attempts to place a call to a device that is in a busy condition, the device returns a busy signal in the backward direction. For a telephone, busy is the same as off hook. See also busy signal.