busy

bus|y¹ W2S1 [ˈbızi] adj comparative busier superlative busiest

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1¦(person)¦

2¦(time)¦

3¦(place)¦

4¦(telephone)¦

5¦(pattern)¦

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[: Old English; Origin: bisig]

1.) ¦(PERSON)¦

if you are busy, you are working hard and have a lot of things to do

▪ She's busy now - can you phone later?

▪ a busy mother of four

busy with

▪ Mr Haynes is busy with a customer at the moment.

busy doing sth

▪ Rachel's busy studying for her exams.

▪ There were lots of activities to keep the kids busy .

2.) ¦(TIME)¦

a busy period of time is full of work or other activities

▪ December is the busiest time of year for shops.

▪ a busy day

▪ He took time out of his busy schedule to visit us.

3.) ¦(PLACE)¦

a busy place is very full of people or vehicles and movement

▪ We live on a very busy road .

4.) ¦(TELEPHONE)¦

especially AmE if a telephone you are calling is busy, it makes a repeated sound to tell you that the person you are calling is talking on their telephone

British Equivalent: engaged

▪ I called Sonya, but her line was busy.

▪ I keep getting a busy signal .

5.) ¦(PATTERN)¦

a pattern or design that is busy is too full of small details - used to show disapproval

busy ²

busy² past tense and past participle busied present participle busying third person singular busies

v [T]

busy yourself with sth

to use your time dealing with something

▪ He busied himself with answering letters.