Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Busy

Bus′y (bĭz′zy̆), a. [OE. busi, bisi, AS. bysig; akin to D. bezig, LG. besig; cf. Skr. bhūsh 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.

Bus′y (bĭz′zy̆), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Busied (bĭz′zĭd); 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.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.