Synonyms: business, industry, commerce, trade, traffic
These nouns apply to forms of activity that have the objective of supplying products or services for a fee. Business pertains broadly to commercial, financial, and industrial activity, and more narrowly to specific fields or firms engaging in this activity: a company that does business over the internet; went into the software consulting business; owns a dry-cleaning business. Industry entails the production and manufacture of goods or commodities, especially on a large scale: the computer industry. Commerce and trade refer to the exchange and distribution of goods or commodities: laws regulating interstate commerce; involved in the domestic fur trade. Traffic pertains in particular to businesses engaged in the transportation of goods or passengers: renovated the docks to attract shipping traffic. The word may also suggest illegal trade: discovered a brisk traffic in stolen goods.