bus

[ buhs ]

/ bʌs /

noun, plural bus·es, bus·ses.

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

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.

Electricity. Also called bus bar, bus·bar

[buhs-bahr] /ˈbʌsˌbɑr/. 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 or bussed, bus·ing or bus·sing.

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 or bussed, bus·ing or bus·sing.

to travel on or by means of a bus: We bused to New York on a theater trip.

Nearby words

Idioms

throw under the bus. throw(def 57).

Origin of bus

1825–35; short for omnibus; (def 6) short for omnibus bar

Can be confusedbussed bust

buss

[ buhs ]

/ bʌs /

noun, verb (used with or without object)

kiss.

Origin of buss

1560–70; perhaps blend of obsolete bass kiss and obsolete cuss kiss (cognate with German Kuss; replacing Middle English, Old English coss (cognate with Old Norse koss))

Can be confusedbus buss

bus

[ buhs ]

/ bʌs /

verb (used with or without object), bused or bussed, bus·ing or bus·sing.

to work or act as a busboy or busgirl: She bused for her meals during her student days.

Origin of bus

First recorded in 1830–40; back formation from busboy

busing

or bus·sing

[ buhs-ing ]

/ ˈbʌs ɪŋ /

noun

the transporting of students by bus to schools outside their neighborhoods, especially as a means of achieving socioeconomic or racial diversity among students in a public school.

Origin of busing

1885–90; bus¹ (v.) + -ing¹, spelled irregular with single s, perhaps to avoid association with buss

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for bussing

buss

/ (bʌs) /

noun, verb

an archaic or dialect word for kiss

Word Origin for buss

C16: probably of imitative origin; compare French baiser, German dialect Bussi little kiss

Buss

/ (bʌs) /

noun

Frances Mary . 1827–94, British educationalist; a pioneer of secondary education for girls, who campaigned for women's admission to university

bus

/ (bʌs) /

noun plural buses or busses

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

short for trolleybus

(modifier) of or relating to a bus or busesa 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

miss the bus to miss an opportunity; be too late

verb buses, busing, bused, busses, bussing or bussed

to travel or transport by bus

mainly US and Canadian to transport (children) by bus from one area to a school in another in order to create racially integrated classes

Word Origin for bus

C19: short for omnibus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bussing

bussing

"kissing," 1888, verbal noun from buss (v.).

bus

1832, abbreviation of omnibus (q.v.). The modern English noun is nothing but a Latin dative plural ending. To miss the bus, in the figurative sense of "lose an opportunity," is from 1901, Australian English (OED has a figurative miss the omnibus from 1886). Busman's holiday "leisure time spent doing what one does for a living" (1893) is probably a reference to London bus drivers riding the buses on their days off.

buss

"a kiss," 1560s; probably of imitative origin, as are Welsh and Gaelic bus "kiss, lip," French baiser "kiss" (12c., from Latin basiare), Spanish buz, German dialectal Buss.

buss

1570s, from buss (n.). Related: Bussed; bussing.

Kissing and bussing differ both in this,
We busse our wantons, but our wives we kisse.
[Robert Herrick, "Hesperides," 1648]

bus

1838, "to travel by omnibus," from bus (n.). Transitive meaning "transport students to integrate schools" is from 1961, American English. Meaning "clear tables in a restaurant" is first attested 1913, probably from the four-wheeled cart used to carry dishes. Related: Bused; busing.

Culture definitions for bussing

busing

The movement of students from one neighborhood to a school in another neighborhood, usually by bus and usually to break down de facto segregation of public schools.

Note

A Supreme Court decision in 1971 ruling that busing was an appropriate means of achieving integrated schools (see integration) was received with widespread, sometimes violent, resistance, particularly among whites into whose neighborhoods and schools black children were to be bused. In 1991, the Court ruled that school districts could end busing if they had done everything “practicable” to eliminate the traces of past discrimination.

bus

noun, plural bus·es, bus·ses.

verb (used with object), bused or bussed, bus·ing or bus·sing.

verb (used without object), bused or bussed, bus·ing or bus·sing.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of bus

buss

noun, verb (used with or without object)

Origin of buss

bus

verb (used with or without object), bused or bussed, bus·ing or bus·sing.

Origin of bus

busing

or bus·sing

noun

Origin of busing

buss

noun, verb

Word Origin for buss

Buss

noun

bus

noun plural buses or busses

verb buses, busing, bused, busses, bussing or bussed

Word Origin for bus

bussing

bus

buss

buss

bus

busing

Note