Business English Vocabulary Online

Unit 4 Summaries, notes, reports

You can print out this wordlist for Unit 4 of New International Business English - or you can click on any of the highlighted words for further explanations and sample sentences on the Cambridge Dictionaries Online website.

break noun
a short period of rest, when food or drink is sometimes eaten.

frequent adjective
happening often; common

improve verb
to (cause something to) get better

physiotherapist noun
A physiotherapist is someone who treats people using physiotherapy (= the treatment of stiffness, muscle weakness and pain in the body, esp. by rubbing and moving the sore parts)

card noun
a small rectangular piece of stiff paper with information printed on it, esp. a person's job title, business address and telephone number

stand noun
a small shop or stall or an area where products can be shown, usually outside or in a large public building, at which people can buy things or obtain information

discount noun
a reduction in the usual price

procurement noun
Procurement is the buying of supplies.

record verb
to keep (information) for the future, by writing it down or storing it on a computer

rely on phrasal verb
to depend on or trust (someone or something)

sales representative noun
a sales representative (also sales rep) travels to different places trying to persuade people to buy the things their company produces.

summarize verb
to express the most important facts or characteristics about (something) in a short and clear form

canteen noun
a small place in a factory, office, etc. where food and meals are sold, often at a lower than usual price

complain verb
to say that something is wrong or not satisfactory

concerning preposition
about

display verb
to arrange (something or a collection of things) so that they can be seen by the public

eyesight noun
the ability to see

handle verb
to operate or control (something which could be difficult or dangerous)

investigate verb
to examine (a crime, problem, statement, etc.) carefully, esp. to discover the truth

bug noun
a bacteria or a virus causing an illness that is usually not serious

old-fashioned adjective
Something that is old-fashioned is not modern, and belongs to or is typical of a time in the past.

procedure noun
a set of actions which is the accepted way of doing something

raise verb
to cause to exist

recommend verb
to suggest that (someone or something) would be good or suitable for a particular job or purpose, or to suggest that (a particular action) should be done

regular adjective
existing or happening repeatedly in a fixed pattern, with equal or similar amounts of space or time between one and the next; even or frequent

Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) noun
a painful medical condition which can cause damage to the hands, wrists, upper arms and backs of esp. people who use computers and other forms of keyboard

replace verb
to take the place of (something) or put something or someone in the place of (something or someone else)

request noun
an act of asking; a polite demand for something

screen noun
a flat surface in a cinema or on a television or a computer system on which pictures or words are shown

symptom noun
any feeling of illness or physical or mental change which is caused by a particular disease

union noun
A (trade) union is an organization of workers from a particular profession (= type of work) or trade which represents and protects the rights of workers within that profession and has discussions with employers over such matters as pay and working conditions.

ventilate verb
to cause fresh air to enter and move around an enclosed space

aim verb
to intend

body noun
the main part of a book, article, etc., or the main part of a large building

clarify verb
to make something clear or easier to understand by giving more details or a simpler explanation

special adjective
having a particular purpose

cover verb
to do (someone else's job or duty) when they are absent

department noun
any of the divisions or parts of esp. a school, university, business or government

personnel noun
Personnel is the department of a company or organization that deals with its employees when they first join, when they need training or when they have any problems.

edit verb
to prepare (a text or film) for printing or viewing by correcting mistakes and deciding what will be removed and what will be kept in, etc., or to be in charge of (the reports in a newspaper or magazine, etc.)

efficient adjective
working or operating quickly and effectively in an organized way

examine verb
to look at or consider (a person or thing) carefully and in detail in order to discover something about the person or thing

extended adjective
longer than usual

grave adjective
seriously bad

item noun
something which is part of a list or group of things

overtime noun
(time spent working) beyond the usual time needed or expected in a job

request noun
an act of asking; a polite demand for something

result noun
something that happens or exists because of something else

review verb
to consider (something) in order to make changes to it, give an opinion on it or to study it

rough adjective
fairly correct but not exact or detailed; approximate

select verb
to choose (a small number of things), or to choose by making careful decisions

separate adjective
existing or happening independently or in a different physical space

sheet noun
a large thin flat esp. rectangular piece of something, esp. a piece of cloth used for sleeping on or a piece of paper

undertake verb
to do or begin to do (something)

waste noun
an unnecessary or wrong use of money, substances, time, energy, abilities, etc.

workforce noun
the group of people who work in a company, industry, country etc.

bill noun
a request for payment of money owed, or the piece of paper on which it is written

bonus noun
an extra amount of money that is given to you as a present or reward in addition to the money you were expecting

dash noun
a short horizontal line used to separate parts of sentences

deduct verb
to take away (an amount or part) from a total

increase verb
to become or make larger in amount or size

instead adverb
rather than (something or someone);

invoice noun
a list of items provided or work done together with their cost, for payment at a later time

lot noun
a large amount or number (of something)

postpone verb
to delay (an event), esp. arranging for it to happen at a later date or time

punctuation mark noun
a mark that you add to a text to show the divisions between different parts of it

reduce verb
to make less in size, amount, degree, importance, etc., or bring into a different, usually worse, state

afterthought noun
an idea, thought or plan which was not originally intended but is thought of at a later time

apostrophe noun
the sign (') used in writing to show that a letter or a number has been omitted, or before or after s to show possession

avoid verb
to stay away from someone or something, or prevent something from happening or not allow yourself to do something

brackets noun
either of two symbols put around a word, phrase or sentence in a piece of writing to show that what is between them should be considered as separate from the main part

carry out phrasal verb
to perform or complete (a job or activity); to fulfil

colon noun
the sign (:) used in writing esp. to introduce a list of things or a sentence or phrase taken from somewhere else

comma noun
the , punctuation mark that is used in writing to separate parts of a sentence showing a slight pause, or to separate the various single items in a list

cost noun
the amount of money needed to buy, do or make something

quotes noun
Quotation marks (also quote marks, UK also inverted commas or informal quotes) are the pair of printed marks put at the beginning or end of a word or phrase to show that someone else has written or said it.

doubt noun
(a feeling of) uncertainty about something, esp. about how good or true it is

exclamation mark noun
the ! punctuation mark that is written immediately after an exclamation

factory noun
a building or set of buildings where large amounts of goods are made using machines

full stop noun
the . punctuation mark that is put at the end of a sentence, or at the end of a word that has been abbreviated

hyphen noun
the - punctuation mark that joins two words together, or shows that a word has been divided into two parts at the end of one line and the beginning of the next

inverted commas  noun
the " " punctuation marks that are put around a word or phrase to show that someone else has written or said it

oblique noun
An oblique (also slash or specialized solidus) is a sloping line often used for separating numbers or words.

parenthesis noun
either of two marks ( ) put round a word, sentence, etc. in a piece of writing to show that what is inside them should be considered as separate from the main part

period = full stop noun
the . punctuation mark that is put at the end of a sentence, or at the end of a word that has been abbreviated

primary adjective
more important than anything else; main

productivity noun
A company's or country's productivity is the rate at which it makes goods, and is usually judged in connection with the number of people and the amount of materials necessary to produce the goods.

question mark noun
A question mark is a written or printed sign (?) that is put at the end of a phrase or sentence to show that it is a question.

quotation marks noun
Quotation marks (also quote marks, Br also inverted commas or informal quotes) are the pair of printed mark put at the beginning or end of a word or phrase to show that someone else has written or said it.

salary noun
a fixed amount of money agreed every year as pay for an employee, part of which, that is left once tax has been paid, is usually paid directly into his or her bank account every month

semicolon noun
a sign (;) used in formal writing between two parts of a sentence, usually when each of the two parts could form grammatical sentences on their own

slash noun
a sloping line used in printing or writing to separate letters or numbers.

stroke noun
(esp. used in spoken English) an oblique (diagonal)

amount noun
a collection or mass esp. of something which cannot be counted

branch noun
a part of something larger

emerge verb
to become known esp. as a result of consideration, examination or questioning

focus noun
the main or central point of something, esp. of attention or interest

note [something] down phrasal verb
to write something so that you do not forget it

order noun
the way in which people or  things are arranged in relation to one another or according to a particular characteristic

sequence noun
a series of related things or events, or the order in which they follow each other

brainstorm verb
(of a group of people) to suggest a lot of ideas for (a future activity) very quickly before considering some of them more carefully

session noun
a period of time or meeting arranged for a particular activity

set noun
a group of similar things or people that belong together in some way

spot verb
to see or notice (someone or something) usually when it involves looking hard

topic noun
a subject which is discussed, written about or studied

underestimate verb
to fail to guess or understand the real cost, size, difficulty, etc. of (something), or to fail to understand how strong, skilful, intelligent or determined (someone, esp. a competitor) is