bus

Clipping of English Busa.

bus

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Bokobaru.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Bokobaru terms

Clipping of omnibus. Superseded earlier 'bus, where the apostrophe indicated a clipping. The shift in spelling likely reflects the fact that modern speakers no longer perceive this term as a clipping. The electrical sense is derived from figurative application of the automotive sense.

• IPA^(key): /bʌs/, enPR: bŭs
  • (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): /bʊs/
  • (Scotland) IPA^(key): /bʌs/
  • (General Australian, New Zealand, Mid-Atlantic, Philippines) IPA^(key): /bɐs/
  • (Northern Cities Vowel Shift, Ireland) IPA^(key): /bɔs/
  • (Birmingham, Black Country) IPA^(key): /bʊz/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophones: Buss, buss
• Rhymes: -ʌs

bus (plural buses or busses)

1. (automotive) A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads.

   Synonyms: autobus, coach, loser cruiser, motorbus, motorcoach, omnibus, Shillibeer (obsolete)

   Hyponyms: booze bus, commuter bus, school bus, short bus

   1. (chiefly US, Canada) A coach, a bus used for long travels.
2. (UK, dated) Any motorized vehicle, such as a motorbike or car.
   • 1927, Dorothy Sayers, Unnatural Death‎^[2]:

     “Excuse me,” said the stranger, who turned out to be a youth in motorcycling kit, “but could you give me a hand with my bus?”

   • 1932, Dorothy Sayers, Have His Carcase:

     It had to be something with only two cylinders, if the whole ignition was to be put out of action with one needle: that is, a Morgan, a Belsize-Bradshaw, or a motorbike. He probably avoided the bike on the grounds of exposure to weather, and chose the Morgan as the next most handy and numerous two-cylinder ’bus.

3. (electronics) An electrical conductor or interface serving as a common connection for two or more circuits or components.

   Synonyms: busbar, digit trunk, electrical bus

   Hyponym: data bus

4. Part of a MIRV missile, having on-board motors used to deliver the warhead to a target.
5. (medical industry, slang) An ambulance.
6. (military slang, 1910s–1940s) An aeroplane.^[1]
7. (networking) A network topology with each computer connected to a single cable.

• 'bus (archaic)

bus (third-person singular simple present buss or busses, present participle busing or bussing, simple past and past participle bused or bussed)

1. (transitive, automotive, transport) To transport via a motor bus.
   • 1999, Michael Saso, Velvet Bonds: The Chinese Family‎^[3], →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page ix:

     Because the new language school of Fu Jen University in the nearby city of Hsinchu was not yet completed, we were bused with other aspiring students of Chinese language to a farming village called Kuanhsi (Guanxi: West Pass), nestled against the tea growing hills of Hsinchu county.

   • 2024 March 13, Halya Coynash, “Russians with machine guns ensure occupied Ukraine ‘votes’ for Putin”, in Human Rights in Ukraine. The Information Portal of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group‎^[4]:

     Machine guns are the most effective form of ‘election campaigning’, but the occupiers appear to also be bussing in ‘voters’ from the Russian Federation, and ‘registering total strangers in the homes of people forced to flee after the Russian invasion.

   • 2024 March 14, Clive Ndou, “ANC set to open case against ‘ghost IFP voters’”, in The Witness‎^[5]:

     The ANC has accused the IFP of bussing in voters from other wards to vote during the recent Newcastle Municipality by-election won by the IFP.

2. (transitive, automotive, transport, chiefly US) To transport students to school, often to a more distant school for the purposes of achieving racial integration.
   • 1966, Phil Ochs, “Love Me, I'm a Liberal”, in Phils Ochs in Concert:

     But if you ask me to bus my children / I hope the cops take down your name

   • 2008, Ashley R. Holm, Racial Differences in Student Engagement and Attainment: A Study of Topeka High School, 1939--1984, ProQuest, →ISBN, page 23:

     ...to strike down Detroit's federal court order to bus students across school district lines for the purpose of desegregation and therefore nullify many busing programs throughout the country.

3. (intransitive, automotive, transport) To travel by bus.

The Canadian Oxford Dictionary only presents the spellings buses, busing, and bused, implying that these are the predominant forms in Canada.

Back-formation from busboy.^[2]

bus (third-person singular simple present buss or busses, present participle busing or bussing, simple past and past participle bused or bussed)

1. (transitive, US, food service) To clear meal remains from.

   He bussed tables as the restaurant emptied out.

   • 2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 13:

     He was hired to bus tables, but after a few incidents they moved him to the kitchen.

2. (intransitive, US, food service) To work at clearing the remains of meals from tables or counters; to work as a busboy.

   He’s been bussing for minimum wage.

• SBU, UBS, USB, sub, sub-, sub.

Akin to Saho bus.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbus/ [ˈbʊs]
• Hyphenation: bus

bús m (plural buswá f or busuusá f)

1. vagina

Declension of bús
absolutive	bús
predicative	búsu
subjective	bús
genitive	bustí
Postpositioned forms l-case búsul k-case búsuk t-case búsut h-case búsuh

• E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “bus”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN

• IPA^(key): /ˈbœs/, [ˈbəs]

• Audio:

  (file)

bus (plural busse, diminutive bussie)

1. (automotive) bus

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈbus]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

• Homophone: vos (Central)

Cognate to Spanish buso (“underwater snail”) and Portuguese búzio (“underwater snail”), from Latin būcina (“horn”).

bus m or f by sense (plural bussos)

1. diver

• bussejar

Probably from Old Norse buza (“big wide ship”).

bus m (plural bussos)

1. (archaic) a large sailing ship used in the 12th and 13th centuries, broad of beam and with two or three masts

Probably from Persian بوس (bus, “kiss”).

bus m (plural busos)

1. (archaic) flattery

• Only found in the phrase fer lo bus (“to kiss up”).

Clipping of autobús.

bus m (plural busos)

1. bus (vehicle)

Borrowed from English bus.

bus m (plural busos)

1. bus (electrical connector)

• “bus”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

From Italian bus, a clipping of omnibus, from French omnibus.

bus m

1. (Luserna) bus (vehicle)

   Benn rifta dar bus? ― What time does the bus come?

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

• IPA^(key): [ˈbus]

bus m inan

1. bus (motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads)

   Synonym: autobus

• IPA^(key): [ˈbas]

bus m inan

1. (computing) bus (an electrical interface connecting two or more components)

Shortening of omnibus, from French omnibus, from Latin omnibus (“for all”), dative plural of omnis (“all”).

• IPA^(key): /bus/, [b̥us]

bus c (singular definite bussen, plural indefinite busser)

1. bus, coach

• IPA^(key): /bʏs/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bus
• Rhymes: -ʏs
• Homophone: Bus

Shortening of omnibus, from Latin omnibus (“for everything/all”); dative plural of omnis (“all”).

bus m (plural bussen, diminutive busje n)

1. (transport) bus, omnibus (vehicle)
2. (transport, in diminutive) minibus, minivan
3. bus (electrical conductor)

• → Caribbean Javanese: bis
• → Papiamentu: bùs
• → Sranan Tongo: bùs
  • → Aukan: besi
  • → Saramaccan: bési

From Middle Dutch busse, from Old Dutch *bussa, from Proto-West Germanic *buhsā. Doublet of buks (“shotgun”), box, and pyxis.

bus f (plural bussen, diminutive busje n)

1. a container, a box, a tin
2. a bushing
3. (chiefly historical) one of a variety of early modern firearms, such as flintlock and matchlock guns
4. (dated, Netherlands) a voluntary sick fund, especially before the introduction of universal health care in the Netherlands in the 1940s

• Petjo: bus
• → Indonesian: bis (“letterbox, mailbox”), bos (“bushing”)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. Related to etymology 2.

bus

1. inflection of bussen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

Clipping of omnibus.

• IPA^(key): /bys/
  • (New Caledonia) IPA^(key): /bʌs/
• Homophones: busse, busses, bussent

bus m or f (invariable)

1. bus

   Synonym: autobus

• arrêt de bus
• bus accordéon
• bus scolaire
• service rapide par bus

Inflected forms.

• IPA^(key): /by/
• Homophones: bu, bue, bues, but, bût

bus

1. first/second-person singular past historic of boire

bus m pl

1. masculine plural of bu

• “bus”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• IPA^(key): /bʊs/
• IPA^(key): (alternative pronunciations, especially for the word of etymology 1) /bɪs/, /bəs/, /bɘs/, /bas/
  • For the pronunciations /bəs/, /bɘs/, comparable to Afrikaans bus.
• Rhymes: -bʊs
• Hyphenation: bus

Borrowed from Dutch bus, shortening of omnibus, from Latin omnibus (“for everything/all”); dative plural of omnis (“all”).

• bis (nonstandard)

bus

1. bus (a motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads)

Onomatopoeic, related to embus or hembus.

bus

1. imitation sound of blowing wind; can be roughly translated as whoosh

• “bus”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Borrowed from English bus.

• IPA^(key): /bˠʊsˠ/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /bˠɞsˠ/^[1]

bus m (genitive singular bus, nominative plural busanna)

1. bus
2. (computing) bus

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “bus”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “bus”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2026
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959), “bus”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm

• Audio:

  (file)

bus m (invariable)

1. bus

• IPA^(key): /ˈbus/ [ˈbos]
  • Rhymes: -us
• (parts of Bauko, Sabangan and Tadian) IPA^(key): /ˈbuh/ [ˈboh]
  • Rhymes: -uh
• Syllabification: bus

bus

1. state of abundance/plentifulness of water (in wells, rivers, etc.)

• Morice Vanoverbergh (1933), “bus”, in A Dictionary of Lepanto Igorot or Kankanay. As it is spoken at Bauco (Linguistische Anthropos-Bibliothek; XII)‎^[6], Mödling bei Wien, St. Gabriel, Österreich: Verlag der Internationalen Zeitschrift „Anthropos“, →OCLC, page 104

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): [bʊs]

bùs

1. third-person singular future of būti
2. third-person plural future of būti
3. third-person singular future of busti
4. third-person plural future of busti

Akin to Italian buca, ultimately from Latin bucca, whence French French bouche.

• IPA^(key): /byːs/

bus

1. hole

• IPA^(key): /buːs/
• Rhymes: -uːs

bus

1. second-person singular imperative of bies

From Proto-Celtic *bussus, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to swell, bulge”).

bus (gender unknown)

1. (rare, poetic) lip

• Irish: pus
• Scottish Gaelic: bus

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “4 bus”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*bussu-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 84

bus

1. first-person singular preterite of baithe

bus n (definite singular buset, uncountable)

1. (dialectal, Setesdal, Telemark) alternative form of bos

• IPA^(key): /ˈbus/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -us
• Syllabification: bus

Clipping of autobus. Calque of English bus.

bus m animal or m inan (diminutive busik)

1. (colloquial) bus (motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads)

Clipping of mikrobus.

bus m animal or m inan (diminutive busik)

1. (colloquial) van (motor vehicle used to carry goods or, usually, up to 10 people)

• bus in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• bus in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• IPA^(key): /bus/

bus m

1. hole
   • September 2012, Daniela Cortesi, Bônanòta in la Ludla, il Papiro, page 15:

     un sorg e’ cor in priscia int e’ su bus.

     a mouse runs hastily towards its hole.

From Middle Irish bus.

• IPA^(key): /b̥us̪/

bus m (genitive singular buis, plural buis or busan)

1. mouth

   Synonym: beul

2. pout (facial expression)

• busach (“pouty; sullen”)

Borrowed from English bus.

• IPA^(key): /b̥ɤs̪/

bus m (genitive singular bus, plural busaichean)

1. bus

bus ?

1. dust

Clipping of autobús (in Spain) or borrowed from English bus (in Latin America).

• IPA^(key): /ˈbus/ [ˈbus]
• Rhymes: -us
• Syllabification: bus

bus m (plural buses)

1. clipping of autobús; bus

   Synonyms: autobús; see also Thesaurus:autobús

2. (computing) bus

• In Spain, bus is a colloquial word and in Latin America it is a formal word.

• “bus”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

From the verb busa (“make mischief, prank”).

• IPA^(key): /bʉːs/, [bʉ͍ːs]
• Rhymes: -ʉːs

bus n (uncountable)

1. (fairly innocent) mischief (by children), pranking

   bus eller godis

   trick or treat ("mischief or candy")

2. (colloquial, chiefly in the definite "buset") criminals (on the lower rungs of the social ladder)

   att ta fast buset

   to catch the criminals

Associated with mischief and pranks by children, with ironic extensions to adults fooling around and criminality.

• busig
• buslur
• busunge
• busvissla
• NetBus

• bus in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker

• sub

Borrowed from English bus, clipping of omnibus, from French omnibus, from Latin omnibus (“to/for all”).

• (common) IPA^(key): /ˈbus/ [ˈbʊs]
  • Rhymes: -us
  • Syllabification: bus
• (Taglish) IPA^(key): /ˈbas/ [ˈbas]
  • Rhymes: -as

bus (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜐ᜔ or ᜊᜐ᜔)

1. bus (vehicle)

   Synonym: awtobus

2. bus (electrical conductor)

• The pronunciation /bas/ is commonly used in Taglish speech, especially by younger speakers.

• “bus”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

From English bush.

• IPA^(key): /bus/

bus

1. bush (remote rural areas)
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 1:25:

     God i kamapim ol kain kain animal bilong ples na ol bikpela na liklik animal bilong bus. God i lukim olgeta dispela samting i gutpela, na em i amamas.

     →New International Version translation

• bus kanaka

From Middle Dutch busch, variant of bosch, from Old Dutch *busc, from Proto-Germanic *buskaz.

bus n

1. forest

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Same as Dutch "bus", but is it derived from that or shortened from "omnibus" independently?”)

bus m

1. bus