bus
n. · v.-
1 public transport vehicle (n.) A1 Beginnera large vehicle that carries many passengers along a road, usually following a set route and schedule.
a large motor vehicle designed to carry numerous passengers along a fixed route.
ExampleI missed the morning bus, so I had to wait twenty minutes for the next one.
ExampleThe city council invested in a fleet of electric buses to reduce carbon emissions along the busiest commuter corridors.
-
2 computing/electronics (n.) C1 Advanced Technical Computinga set of wires or a path that moves data or electricity between different parts of a computer.
a communication system or set of parallel conductors that transfers data or power between components within a computer or network.
ExampleThe computer is slow because the data bus cannot move information fast enough.
ExampleThe system architecture utilizes a high-speed system bus to minimize latency between the central processing unit and the primary memory.
Show 2 more sensesShow fewer
-
3 to travel or transport (v.) B1 Intermediateto travel somewhere by bus, or to take people somewhere in a bus.
to transport people via bus, or to travel by means of a bus. Often used transitively in North American contexts regarding school transport.
ExampleThe school buses the children to the museum for their annual field trip.
ExampleThe tour operator decided to bus the passengers to the secondary terminal after the main shuttle train broke down.
-
4 to clear tables (v.) B2 Upper Intermediate American English Cookingto clear away dirty dishes and leftover food from tables in a restaurant.
to remove used dishes and clear tables in a restaurant or cafeteria. Primarily used in North American English.
ExampleThe waiter asked the assistant to bus the table so the next guests could sit down.
ExampleDuring the lunch rush, the staff struggled to bus the tables quickly enough to accommodate the growing queue of patrons waiting at the door.
UsageThe person who does this job is often called a 'busser' or 'busboy'.
- 01
bus plunge
A phrase often used in filler story headlines in print newspapers, prior to the adoption of computer-aided typesetting and publishing methods, as it filled out the usual width of a column in the eight-column layout then prevalent in the industry.
- 02
drive the porcelain bus
Synonym of worship the porcelain god (“to vomit into a toilet bowl, especially while drunk or hungover”).
- 03
face like the back end of a bus
A very ugly face.