bus
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
buhsIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbʌs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
automotive
A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads.
chiefly uscanada
A coach, a bus used for long travels.
An electrical conductor that makes a common connection between several circuits
An electrical conductor or interface serving as a common connection for two or more circuits or components.
Part of a MIRV missile, having on-board motors used to deliver the warhead to a target.
verb
Ride in a bus
Send or move around by bus
“The children were bussed to school.”
intransitiveautomotivetransport
To travel by bus.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (automotive) A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads.
Used this way, bus is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use bus
- “He always rode the bus to work.”noun
- “The fenders had fallen off that old bus.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.