buss
/bʌs/verb, noun
buss is spelled B-U-S-S: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “bus vs buss” about 90 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, buss means “To kiss (either literally or figuratively)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in buss?
| Letters | 4: B-U-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,748th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is buss?
Buss appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce buss?
- /bʌs/
- /bʊs/
Buss has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-Buss.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-buss.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with buss
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: bus (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: bus.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of buss
- busses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- bussing participle, present
- bussed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does buss mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To kiss (either literally or figuratively).
- 2
To kiss.
In the faint glow of a single blue bulb hanging from a clothesline they bussed and fondled.
- 3
slangvulgarTo ejaculate; to eject semen or to squirt.
noun
- 1
A herring buss, a type of shallow-keeled Dutch fishing boat used especially for herring fishing.
- 2
archaicA kiss.
- 3
slangAlternative form of bussing (“enjoyable, delicious”)
- 4
archaicslangA blunderbuss.
By the immortal powers, if you had let Rory put a few slugs into the old buss, he'd have settled the baronet's hash altogether.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does buss come from?
Uncertain. First attested in the 1560s. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰus- (“lip, to kiss”) via Proto-Germanic *busaną (compare German bussen), but in any case imitative of kissing. Compare Welsh bus (“kiss, lip”) and Irish bus (“lips, mouth”) (both may have influenced English), Persian بوس (bus, “kiss”), Latvian buča (“kiss”), Latin basium (“kiss”). Mainstream proposals like in The Free Dictionary have suggested it is a blend of old English dialect words bass (related to French baiser) and cuss (akin to kissen); perhaps compare puss.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).