Bus Meaning
/bʌs/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads.
nounA motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads., A coach, a bus used for long travels.
Sentence Examples
You'd better go by bus.
I left your umbrella in the bus.
Shall we walk or go by bus?
CEFR Practice Quiz
Every morning, the children wait at the corner for the yellow school ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I take the number five ____ to get to school every single morning.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep-der. Proto-Italic *opnis Latin omnis Latin omnibuslbor. French omnibusbor. English omnibusclip. English bus 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 Superseded earlier 'bus, where the apostrophe indicated a clipping.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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"“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?”"
— 1927, Dorothy Sayers, Unnatural Death:
"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."
— 1932, Dorothy Sayers, Have His Carcase:
"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."
— 1999, Michael Saso, Velvet Bonds: The Chinese Family, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page ix:
"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 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, archived from the original on 06 Aug 2024:
"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."
— 2024 March 14, Clive Ndou, “ANC set to open case against ‘ghost IFP voters’”, in The Witness, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2026:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Every morning, the children wait at the corner for the yellow school ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I take the number five ____ to get to school every single morning.