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  1. busy love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Engaged in activity, as work; occupied.
  2. adj. Sustaining much activity: a busy morning; a busy street.
  3. adj. Meddlesome; prying.
  4. adj. Being in use, as a telephone line.
  5. adj. Cluttered with detail to the point of being distracting: a busy design.
  6. v. To make busy; occupy: busied myself preparing my tax return.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Actively or attentively engaged; closely occupied physically or mentally; intent upon that which one is doing; not at leisure: opposed to idle.
  2. Active in that which does not concern one; meddling with or prying into the affairs of others; officious; importunate.
  3. In constant or energetic action; rapidly moving or moved; diligently used: as, busy hands or thoughts.
  4. Pertaining or due to energetic action; manifesting constant or rapid movement.
  5. Requiring constant attention, as a task.
  6. Filled with, active duties or employment.
  7. Careful; anxious. Chaucer. Synonyms and Active, Busy, Officious, etc. (see active); diligent, assiduous, hard-working; meddling, intriguing.
  8. To employ with constant attention; keep engaged; make or keep busy: as, to busy one's self with books.
  9. In decoration, full of detail; overcrowded; fussy.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Doing a great deal; having a lot of things to do in the space of time given
  2. adj. Engaged in another activity or by someone else.
  3. adj. Having a lot going on; complicated or intricate.
  4. v. To make somebody busy, to keep busy with, to occupy, to make occupied.
  5. v. To rush somebody.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Engaged in some business; hard at work (either habitually or only for the time being); occupied with serious affairs; not idle nor at leisure.
  2. adj. Constantly at work; diligent; active.
  3. adj. Crowded with business or activities; -- said of places and times.
  4. adj. Officious; meddling; foolish active.
  5. adj. obsolete Careful; anxious.
  6. v. To make or keep busy; to employ; to engage or keep engaged; to occupy.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
  2. adj. crowded with or characterized by much activity
  3. adj. (of facilities such as telephones or lavatories) unavailable for use by anyone else or indicating unavailability; (`engaged' is a British term for a busy telephone line)
  4. adj. overcrowded or cluttered with detail
  5. v. keep busy with
  6. adj. actively or fully engaged or occupied

Etymologies

  1. 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"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English bisi, busi, from Old English bysig. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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synonyms (13)

Words with the same meaning

  1. occupied
  2. assiduous
  1. industrious
  2. engaged
  1. active
  2. diligent
  1. officious
  2. meddling
  1. careful
  2. anxious
  1. employ
  2. occupy
  1. meddlesome

equivalents (13)

Other words for ‘busy’

  1. intrusive
  2. active
  1. occupied
  2. fancy
  1. up to
  2. toiling
  1. at work
  2. drudging
  1. engaged
  2. tied up
  1. labouring
  2. laboring
  1. over-busy

same context (5)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. happy
  1. new
  1. active
  1. long
  1. anxious

rhymes (5)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. Izzy
  1. Lizzie
  1. Lizzy
  1. dizzy
  1. tizzy

reverse dictionary (116)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. potter
  2. active
  3. busy
  4. besy
  5. diligent
  6. sedulous
  7. assiduous
  8. industrious
  9. pragmatic
  10. pragmatical
  11. finikin
  12. make-work
  13. fiddle
  14. matchmaking
  15. hold
  16. engaged
  17. meddle
  18. inactive
  19. fiddling
  20. go
  21. hammer
  22. hive
  23. to kill time
  1. throng
  2. while
  3. bisie
  4. busily
  5. busywork
  6. meddling
  7. nattle
  8. negotious
  9. over-busy
  10. parliament
  11. pragmatist
  12. scraffle
  13. unoccupied
  14. boondoggle
  15. bustling
  16. busyness
  17. embusy
  18. fad
  19. fiddle-faddle
  20. house-proud
  21. ithand
  22. line
  23. Hoboken
  1. whir
  2. Baltimore
  3. merry-go-round
  4. apply
  5. a bone to pick
  6. to employ one's self
  7. exercise
  8. uncommitted
  9. unengaged
  10. up to
  11. Dalles
  12. chuff
  13. slack
  14. saint louis
  15. St. Louis
  16. stargazer
  17. strip mall
  18. abstract
  19. await
  20. bane
  21. bound
  22. business
  23. catchword
  1. careful
  2. counter
  3. enough
  4. maintain
  5. idle
  6. strip
  7. hum
  8. twiddle
  9. thrang
  10. toilous
  11. tradeful
  12. gateway to the west
  13. lotus-eater
  14. occupy
  15. on the go
  16. Antwerp
  17. antwerpen
  18. Anvers
  19. available
  20. beehive
  21. in use
  22. negotiosity
  23. occupied
  1. overofficious
  2. peddle
  3. stir
  4. stirring
  5. tamper
  6. tinker
  7. unbusied
  8. brisk
  9. buzzer
  10. concern
  11. employ
  12. mell
  13. officious
  14. painful
  15. ply
  16. pragmatism
  17. set
  18. isle
  19. tew
  20. toss
  21. trifle
  22. wing
  23. work
  1. working

tags (2)

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  1. cvcv
  1. periodic symbol words

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Lists

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Comments

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  • seanahan "Busy, busy, busy is what we Bokononists whisper whenever we think of how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is." - Cat's Cradle Dec 2, 2006

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‘busy’ has been looked up 3519 times, added to 13 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 9.