bus
noun
a large motor vehicle, having a long body, equipped with seats or benches for passengers, usually operating as part of a scheduled service; omnibus.
bus
1 American
[buhs]
/ bʌs /
noun
-
buses,
plural
-
busses
plural
-
a large motor vehicle, having a long body, equipped with seats or benches for passengers, usually operating as part of a scheduled service; omnibus.
-
(formerly) a similar horse-drawn vehicle.
-
a passenger automobile or airplane used in a manner resembling that of a bus.
-
any vehicle operated to transport children to school.
-
a low, movable filing cabinet.
-
Also called busbar. Also called bus bar,. Electricity. a heavy conductor, often made of copper in the shape of a bar, used to collect, carry, and distribute powerful electric currents, as those produced by generators.
-
Computers. a circuit that connects the CPU with other devices in a computer.
verb (used with object)
bused,
bussed,
busing,
bussing
-
to convey or transport by bus.
to bus the tourists to another hotel.
-
to transport (pupils) to school by bus, especially as a means of achieving socioeconomic or racial diversity among students in a public school.
verb (used without object)
bused,
bussed,
busing,
bussing
idioms
bus
2
American
[buhs]
/ bʌs /
verb (used with or without object)
bused,
bussed,
busing,
bussing
bus.
3
American
abbreviation
bus
British
/ bʌs /
noun
-
Sometimes called: motorbus. More formal name: omnibus. a large motor vehicle designed to carry passengers between stopping places along a regular route
-
short for trolleybus
-
(modifier) of or relating to a bus or buses
a bus driver
a bus station
-
informal a car or aircraft, esp one that is old and shaky
-
electronics computing short for busbar
-
the part of a MIRV missile payload containing the re-entry vehicles and guidance and thrust devices
-
astronautics a platform in a space vehicle used for various experiments and processes
-
to miss an opportunity; be too late
verb
-
to travel or transport by bus
-
to transport (children) by bus from one area to a school in another in order to create racially integrated classes
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bus1
First recorded in 1825–35; short for omnibus; bus 1 def. 6 short for omnibus bar
Origin of bus2
First recorded in 1830–40; back formation from busboy
Explanation
A bus is a long vehicle with many seats. An elementary school student might save a seat on the school bus each morning for her best friend. A city bus carries far more passengers than a private car, which makes it an efficient form of transportation. When bus is used as a verb, it means to transport by bus, sometimes in an effort to desegregate a school district: "The city will bus students from this neighborhood to the other side of town." It also means "to clear a table" in restaurant lingo, which is often done by a "bus boy" or a "busser."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Fire engines, ambulances and police were stationed on Landport Road, in Lewes, alongside a double decker bus by the community hub waiting for passengers to board.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Surprise, surprise: Tony doesn’t get the fellowship, and instead, flees his childhood home early in the morning to catch a bus and a ferry to Provincetown.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
One of the mayor’s pledges—free bus service—has ruffled feathers at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the agency that operates the city’s bus and subway service.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Three years ago, he arrived in Colombia by bus, fleeing the crisis in neighboring Venezuela.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
I hop into my seat at the front of the bus as he starts yelling about the last two hours of our trek and to let our parents know now so they can coordinate pickups.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
"There were no other vehicles involved -- only the bus. And that bus caught fire... we are currently trying to determine the precise reason why this happened," Papaux told reporters.
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
"It's something we've talked about a lot on the tour bus. That would be fun."
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2026
“We’re now sleeping on the bus. There’s nothing happening. We’re just idling there forever.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
“Now we’re driving the damn bus. I want you to understand what your power is.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
“It’s on the other side of the county. There aren’t enough Muslim kids out here to carpool or hire a bus. I guess my parents got tired of driving me every morning.”
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
With its 20 hydrogen buses on the roads, Santa Cruz Metro is committed to the technology, he said, but the funding landscape has changed drastically.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
There were about 20 times more EV trucks and buses on the road than hydrogen ones at the end of last year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
They ride campus buses without paying a fare.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Tickets were being accepted on alternative Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services with rail replacement buses arranged for travel to Lewes and to Haywards Heath.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
For instance, Courtney and I would be the only ones at school, left behind because of something with the buses being gone and it was late or we were late.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
Long before cars were common and busses were running, residents still got around on the backs of their horse carts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
“What moderates are worried about is not just the ideas that he has run on like free busses and, you know, grocery stores, that kind of thing,” Bennett said.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2025
They have often targeted busses travelling to and from the capital.
From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2025
Most of the Afghan nationals were brought to the centers in rickety busses, some of them handcuffed.
From Reuters ● Nov. 1, 2023
No busses to get on or traveling to do.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
In August 2024, Novo Nordisk bused its employees to the sprawling Roskilde fairgrounds outside Copenhagen for its annual summer party.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
In 2019, a self-described "caravan" of Americans bused to Canada to purchase cheaper insulin for type 1 diabetes - and to protest the costs in the US for the life-saving medication.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
When soldiers are returned to Russia, they are bused from Belarus, bordering Russia and Ukraine, where most exchanges occur.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
To see a doctor, she was bused nearly three hours each way to a medical center in Monroe, La.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2025
And the white kids from the Flats, dishonor students, got bused in from the other direction.
From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell
“Sound of Freedom” had church groups busing to theaters to watch the movie in hordes.
From Salon ● May 3, 2026
Robert Docter, an L.A. school board member in the 1970s who successfully pushed to end corporal punishment and who sacrificed his political career trying to integrate campuses through busing, has died at 97.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2025
Working long hours doing a bit of everything—right down to busing tables—Meyer ate one at the end of almost every lunch shift.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
Daryl, 42, a self-described conservative, lived in several Southern communities as a child, including Charlotte, North Carolina, in the mid-1980s as the city wrestled with its court-ordered school busing program.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2025
Whitney Young was named for a civil rights activist and had been opened in 1975 as a positive-minded alternative to busing.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Evacuees from surrounding villages were bussed in to shelter in sports halls around the capital.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
When we were done, we bussed our own tables and sorted our garbage from our recycling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
Instead, they were taken by military plane directly to Panama, did not go through customs upon arrival and were immediately detained in the hotel until they were bussed to the camp.
From Salon ● Mar. 3, 2025
Schiff was a familiar face to many of the volunteers, who had been bussed in from California by labor unions to knock on doors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2024
Ignatius bent down and lightly bussed her on the cheek.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
For much of the week, Lira is either in the kitchen working as a prep cook or in the dining room bussing tables.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2025
Under US diplomatic pressure, Mexico has been conducting its largest ever migrant crackdown, bussing and flying non-Mexican migrants to the country's south, far from the US border.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2025
That money's up to over $100 million today, but the point is that with all of the negotiations, all that prospecting, the guy that was bussing the table had the most money in the room.
From Salon ● May 18, 2024
“I’ve only played three games. It’s kind of crazy. Come back from not going to training camp and bussing kids around?”
From Washington Times ● Dec. 21, 2023
I even like bussing tables in the restaurant, chatting with guests when I have a chance, and swapping stories with my coworkers.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
