Bus

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, busbar
[buhs-bahr] /ˈbʌsˌbɑr/ (Show IPA). 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.
to travel on or by means of a bus:
We bused to New York on a theater trip.
throw under the bus. throw (def 57).
to work or act as a busboy or busgirl:
She bused for her meals during her student days.
business.
Emil, Jr (“Bus”) 1922–1997, U.S. yacht racer and government official.
Contemporary Examples

Early Christmas for Amanda Knox Barbie Latza Nadeau December 17, 2010
The Day D.C. Went Sane Howard Kurtz October 29, 2010
Mitt Romney: The GOP’s Field’s Rodney Dangerfield McKay Coppins June 1, 2011
On the Road With Kesey’s (Drug-Free) Acid Test Nina Strochlic August 26, 2014
The Fallout from Benghazi Justin Green May 9, 2013

Historical Examples

Sea and Sardinia D. H. Lawrence
The Foolish Lovers St. John G. Ervine
The Champagne Standard Mrs. John Lane
The Foolish Lovers St. John G. Ervine
Sowing and Sewing Charlotte Mary Yonge

noun (pl) buses, busses
a large motor vehicle designed to carry passengers between stopping places along a regular route More formal name omnibus Sometimes called motorbus
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
miss the bus, to miss an opportunity; be too late
verb buses, busing, bused, busses, bussing, bussed
to travel or transport by bus
(mainly US & Canadian) to transport (children) by bus from one area to a school in another in order to create racially integrated classes
n.
v.

A car: Whose old bus is in the drive? (1919+)
An aircraft (1916+)
An ambulance: Roger oneoh-four, do we need a bus? (1980s+ Police)

architecture, networking
A set of electrical conductors (wires, PCB tracks or connections in an integrated circuit) connecting various “stations”, which can be functional units in a computer or nodes in a network. A bus is a broadcast channel, meaning that each station receives every other station’s transmissions and all stations have equal access to the bus.
Various schemes have been invented to solve the problem of collisions: multiple stations trying to transmit at once, e.g. CSMA/CD, bus master.
The term is almost certainly derived from the electrical engineering term “bus bar” – a substantial, rigid power supply conductor to which several connections are made. This was once written “‘bus bar” as it was a contraction of “omnibus bar” – a connection bar “for all”, by analogy with the passenger omnibus – a conveyance “for all”.
More on derivation (http://foldoc.org/pub/misc/omnibus.html).
See computer bus or bus network.
(2009-07-16)
business