busy

Etymology

From Middle English bisy, busie, from Old English bisiġ (“busy, occupied, diligent”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisīg (“diligent; zealous; busy”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian biesich (“active, diligent, hard-working, industrious”), Dutch bezig (“busy”), Low German besig (“busy”), Old Frisian bisgia (“to use”), Old English bisgian (“to occupy, employ, trouble, afflict”). The spelling with ⟨u⟩ represents the pronunciation of the West Midland and Southern dialects while the Modern English pronunciation with /ɪ/ is from the dialects of the East Midlands.

adj

1. Crowded with business or activities; having a great deal going on.
   Be careful crossing that busy street.
2. Engaged in activity or by someone else.
   The director cannot see you now: he's busy.
   Her telephone has been busy all day.
   He is busy with piano practice.
   They are busy getting ready for the annual meeting.
   In fact she was so busy doing all the things that anyone might, who finds themselves alone in an empty house, that she did not notice at first when it began to turn dusk and the rooms to grow dim. 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, page 18
3. Having a lot going on; complicated or intricate.
   Flowers, stripes, and checks in the same fabric make for a busy pattern.
4. Officious; meddling.

verb

1. (transitive, usually reflexive) To make somebody busy or active; to occupy.
   On my vacation I'll busy myself with gardening.
   They busied themselves with the tea. 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 114
2. (transitive) To rush somebody.

noun

1. (slang, UK, Liverpool, derogatory) A police officer.
   I remember playing on a building site once and coming across a five-pound note. I could hardly believe it when I spotted it poking out of the rubble. Excitedly, I ran straight home and gave it to my mum. I was hero of the hour until I got into trouble with the busies – the police – soon afterwards for pinching a bottle of milk from a float. 2016, Chris Graham, Five Minutes of Amazing: My Journey Through Dementia, London: Sphere, page 30