Hypertext Webster Gateway: "busy"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Busy \Bus"y\ (b[i^]z"z[y^]), a. [OE. busi, bisi, AS. bysig; akin
to D. bezig, LG. besig; cf. Skr. bh[=u]sh to be active,
busy.]
1. Engaged in some business; hard at work (either habitually
or only for the time being); occupied with serious
affairs; not idle nor at leisure; as, a busy merchant.
Sir, my mistress sends you word That she is busy,
and she can not come. --Shak.
2. Constantly at work; diligent; active.
Busy hammers closing rivets up. --Shak.
Religious motives . . . are so busy in the heart.
--Addison.
3. Crowded with business or activities; -- said of places and
times; as, a busy street.
To-morrow is a busy day. --Shak.
4. Officious; meddling; foolish active.
On meddling monkey, or on busy ape. --Shak.
5. Careful; anxious. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
Syn: Diligent; industrious; assiduous; active; occupied;
engaged.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Busy \Bus"y\ (b[i^]z"z[y^]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Busied}
(b[i^]z"z[i^]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {Busying}.] [AS. bysgian.]
To make or keep busy; to employ; to engage or keep engaged;
to occupy; as, to busy one's self with books.
Be it thy course to busy giddy minds With foreign
quarrels. --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
busy
adj 1: actively or fully engaged or occupied; "busy with her work";
"a busy man"; "too busy to eat lunch"; "the line is
busy" [ant: {idle}]
2: overcrowded or cluttered with detail; "a busy painting"; "a
fussy design" [syn: {fussy}]
3: intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner; "an interfering
old woman"; "bustling about self-importantly making an
officious nuisance of himself"; "busy about other people's
business" [syn: {interfering}, {meddlesome}, {meddling}, {officious},
{busybodied}]
4: crowded with or characterized by much activity; "a very busy
week"; "a busy life"; "a busy street"; "a busy seaport"
5: (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);
"her line is busy"; "receptionists' telephones are always
engaged"; "the lavatory is in use"; "kept getting a busy
signal" [syn: {engaged}, {in use(p)}]
v : keep busy with; "She busies herself with her butterfly
collection" [syn: {occupy}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.