Jump To:

• bus
  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.
  bus.

  abbreviation

  business.

bus

¹ American  

[buhs] / bʌs /

noun

• buses,
  plural
• busses
  plural

1. a large motor vehicle, having a long body, equipped with seats or benches for passengers, usually operating as part of a scheduled service; omnibus.

2. (formerly) a similar horse-drawn vehicle.

3. a passenger automobile or airplane used in a manner resembling that of a bus.

4. any vehicle operated to transport children to school.

5. a low, movable filing cabinet.

6. Also called busbar, 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.

7. Computers. a circuit that connects the CPU with other devices in a computer.

---

verb (used with object)

bused, bussed, busing, bussing

1. to convey or transport by bus.

   to bus the tourists to another hotel.

2. 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

1. to travel on or by means of a bus.

   We bused to New York on a theater trip.

idioms

1. throw (someone or something) under the bus, to abandon or sacrifice to an imminent negative outcome for expedience or profit, or to protect oneself and one's interests.

   The accused was asked to testify against Tony, but he refused to save himself by throwing his pal under the bus.

bus ² American  

[buhs] / bʌs /

verb (used with or without object)

bused, bussed, busing, bussing

1. to work or act as a busboy or busgirl.

   She bused for her meals during her student days.

---

bus. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. business.

---

bus British  

/ bʌs /

noun

1. Sometimes called: motorbus. More formal name: omnibus. a large motor vehicle designed to carry passengers between stopping places along a regular route

2. short for trolleybus

3. (modifier) of or relating to a bus or buses

   a bus driver

   a bus station

4. informal a car or aircraft, esp one that is old and shaky

5. electronics computing short for busbar

6. the part of a MIRV missile payload containing the re-entry vehicles and guidance and thrust devices

7. astronautics a platform in a space vehicle used for various experiments and processes

8. to miss an opportunity; be too late

---

verb

1. to travel or transport by bus

2. 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

• buses
  plural
• busses
  plural

---

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

See Examples For:

bus bus. buses busses bused busing bussed bussing

Arriving in Ukraine on Saturday by bus, residents whom AFP interviewed painted a dire picture of life in the city.

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026

Additions like a full bus system, detailed non-player characters and a much, much larger map all have gamers itching to start playing.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2026

Another $257 million was set aside last summer to create and enhance “mobility hubs” that connect pedestrians, bicyclists and bus and train riders.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

The prime minister's plan to reinstate the £2 cap on bus fares in England from January to be in effect throughout 2027.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

He wasn’t going to get them on this bus.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

"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

"I literally today will go on a bus. People will see me either put their heads down or they will start the conversation," she says.

From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026

“There’s a stigma attached to riding the bus. Going to microtransit and nontraditional vehicles removed that stigma.”

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2023

“But it cuts down on the stress. The dead time is actually sitting behind the wheel. I can read, do some work or just relax on the bus. It’s more productive and less frustrating.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2023

“You can take the bus. It’s free for kids. A lucky thing because this whole trouble is costing me a fortune.”

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

AFP reporters saw jubilant scenes as the evacuees disembarked buses in Ukraine's northern Chernigiv region, having been evacuated via Belarus.

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026

California’s Clean Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project offers point-of-sale discounts on zero-emission trucks and buses and has distributed $1 billion so far.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

In Salvador, authorities found hundreds of buses sitting idle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

They fear the displacement of traffic on to their roads, with buses, taxis and bikes being rerouted to adjacent streets.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

As the great crowd dispersed, marchers and visitors scrambled to find taxis, buses, cars, trains and planes so they could get out of town before nightfall.

From "Because They Marched" by Russell Freedman

After graduating from college, Batter moves to New York, where he folds shirts at the Gap and busses tables at a restaurant named Just Okay.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

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

Where my mother changed busses she'd gone into a store and bought him a trowel and four packets of seeds.

From "Seedfolks" by Paul Fleischman

Others have bused to airports in Bahrain and Qatar to both exit and enter the kingdom.

From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026

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

Once they were registered, the families with their bags and their pets were bused to Lozova station, to board a long train heading for Lviv in western Ukraine.

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 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

Immigration agents caught him and bused him to Tapachula.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

If a state decides to fund services such as tutoring, therapy, school lunches, busing and on-campus nurses, then faith-based schools are entitled to participate alongside nonsectarian counterparts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 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

As the school board president, Docter became the face of the school system’s effort to carry out court-ordered, mandatory integration, including through forced busing, which he supported as a social-justice imperative.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2025

Instead, the city is busing students to schools that have extra space.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2025

A few years ago, they started busing students in from all over the city.

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas

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

At the school where the Lions are based in the Melbourne suburbs, rugby posts had to be bussed in so the tourists could train.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2025

He grabs a dish rag and scans the room before he wipes down a table that he’d just bussed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2025

Mari and Yolanda served tables while other friends and family bussed or ran food or prepared drinks for guests.

From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya

Another airport spokesperson confirmed the shuttle service "remained out-of-service due to a technical fault and contingency bussing is in operation to transfer passengers between the terminal and gates".

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026

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

And there's a guy bussing the table, like a late 30s guy.

From Salon ● May 18, 2024

Other cities that have received immigrants through bussing include Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia and Washington.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 20, 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

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---