Bus or buss?
bus is a noun meaning “A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads”; buss is a verb meaning “To kiss (either literally or figuratively)”. Use bus as a noun and buss as a verb (bus is also a verb: “To transport via a motor bus”). They sound the same (/bʌs/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) bus is about 100 times as common as buss.
What is the difference between bus and buss?
| bus | buss | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads CanadaUSA coach, a bus used for long travels To transport via a motor bus | To kiss (either literally or figuratively) To kiss A herring buss, a type of shallow-keeled Dutch fishing boat used especially for herring fishing |
| Example | I'm on the bus | In the faint glow of a single blue bulb hanging from a clothesline they bussed and fondled |
| Forms | buses, busses 'busses, 'buses | busses, bussing, bussed |
| Pronunciation | /bʌs/ /bʊs/ /bɪz/ | /bʌs/ /bʊs/ |
| In writing | 68 times per million words | about once in every 1 million words |
Sources: bus and buss in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of bus and buss
bus
- 1
A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads
I'm on the bus
- 2
To transport via a motor bus
- 3
USTo clear meal remains from
He bussed tables as the restaurant emptied out
- 4
Abbreviation of business
- 5
Abbreviation of business
- 6
CanadaUSA coach, a bus used for long travels
- 7
USTo transport students to school, often to a more distant school for the purposes of achieving racial integration
- 8
USTo work at clearing the remains of meals from tables or counters; to work as a busboy
He’s been bussing for minimum wage
buss
- 1
To kiss (either literally or figuratively)
- 2
A herring buss, a type of shallow-keeled Dutch fishing boat used especially for herring fishing
- 3
slangAlternative form of bussing (“enjoyable, delicious”)
- 4
slangvulgarTo ejaculate; to eject semen or to squirt
- 5
To kiss
In the faint glow of a single blue bulb hanging from a clothesline they bussed and fondled
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, bus or buss?
bus appears 68 times per million words; buss about once in every 1 million words.
bus 68 times per million wordsbuss about once in every 1 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search bus vs buss?
“bus vs buss” is searched about 90 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“buss vs bus”, “bus or buss”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.