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.
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.
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
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
First recorded in 1825–35; short for omnibus; bus 1 def. 6 short for omnibus bar
First recorded in 1830–40; back formation from busboy
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."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The government asserted that ICE was trying to locate a target when they approached three men, lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit, at a bus stop in Pasadena, according to the motion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
McKenna said he was there for three nights, without food or water, before he travelled via taxi and bus to hospital in Aberystwyth.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Amundson agreed to watch the bus stop when he got home and to hide him if necessary.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
He unveiled the removal of a tax on household electricity bills, a planned cap on most bus fares in England and a 20 percent reduction in business rates for pubs, clubs, and live music venues.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
The bus lurched dreadfully as it started up but we were standing too close together to fall.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
"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
“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
"I noticed her getting nervous about getting the bus. Then at night she started to cry," she said.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2023
“No. On the bus. Mumford is close to the stop. You got something to write on?” she asks.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
Several buses have been chartered to transport elderly people.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
Since bringing the festival back last year to celebrate its 30-year anniversary, he’s switched his mode of transport from buses to planes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Malawi announced on Monday that more than 46,890 citizens had returned since early June, with the government providing 699 buses for the long journey home.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
The sides of the shuttle buses ferrying Open fans to Royal Birkdale are plastered with a picture of Tommy Fleetwood holding the Claret Jug.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Dr. Krupp drafted the two most experienced drivers to take the remaining forty-two students home in two buses.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
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
Local media pictures showed long queues of busses heading to the Torkham crossing where thousands of people waited for clearance and would likely spend night in open as the crossing closes at 9pm.
From Reuters ● Nov. 1, 2023
No busses to get on or traveling to do.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
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
A few years later, I was bused across town to a much worse—and more diverse—middle school.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
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
Last September, before being bused to Eastern prison, I spent five days inside H Block.
From Slate ● May 19, 2025
Immigration agents caught him and bused him to Tapachula.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
“Sound of Freedom” had church groups busing to theaters to watch the movie in hordes.
From Salon ● May 3, 2026
Instead, the city is busing students to schools that have extra space.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 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
Campaigning in the Wisconsin primary in Milwaukee one morning, I heard Carter espouse one position on school busing that seemed to please a predominately Black church congregation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2024
It was a day that had started with such high hopes: the varsity hoops team busing to Salt Lake for the state tournament.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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 she was bussed over the border from Belarus into Lithuania with 51 other political prisoners.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 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
And he bussed down the slope in a blur of petulant green.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
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 ● Nov. 27, 2024
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
In recent months, security forces began removing some migrants from the city, bussing them elsewhere and, migrants say, dumping some of them in the desert.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 3, 2023
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
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.
