Meaning & use
buss
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablearchaicliterary
A kiss, usually a light, friendly or loud one.
Grammar: Takes a: she gave him a buss on the cheek.
Patterns
- give someone a buss
- a buss on the cheek
The old sailor gave his sweetheart a hearty buss on the cheek.
In the ballad, the knight steals a buss before riding away.
She greeted her aunt with a quick buss and a hug.
verbtransitivearchaicliterary
To kiss someone, especially in a light or playful way.
Grammar: Takes an object: he bussed her hand.
Patterns
- buss someone on something
The uncle bussed each child on the forehead before bedtime.
He bussed her hand and bowed low.
The bride was bussed by every guest at the party.
nouncountablespecialist
A broad, sturdy fishing boat used in earlier centuries, especially by Dutch crews to catch herring.
Grammar: A historical term, usually seen in the phrase herring buss.
Patterns
- a herring buss
Each Dutch herring buss carried a crew who salted the catch at sea.
The museum has a model of a seventeenth-century buss.
Fleets of busses sailed from the harbor every June.
Word forms
| plural | busses |
|---|---|
| third person singular | busses |
| past tense | bussed |
| past participle | bussed |
| -ing form | bussing |
Common combinations
- give someone a buss
- He gave the baby a gentle buss on the nose.
- a loving buss
- Grandmother planted a loving buss on each cheek.
- steal a buss
- The shepherd tried to steal a buss from the milkmaid.
- a buss on the cheek
- A buss on the cheek was how the friends said goodbye.
- buss someone's hand
- The count bussed her hand with great ceremony.
Synonyms and how they differ
- kiss
- Kiss is the ordinary modern word, whereas buss sounds old-fashioned or playful and is mostly met in books.
- peck
- Peck means a quick, light kiss, while buss can be a firmer and louder one.
- smooch
- Smooch is informal and suggests a longer, romantic kiss, which buss does not.
- smack
- Smack as a noun is a loud, quick kiss, and it is close to buss but sounds more casual.
Commonly confused: buss or bus?
buss vs bus
A bus is the large vehicle, and it is also a verb meaning to clear tables in a restaurant. The kiss is spelled with a double s, buss.
Practice
In the old ballad, the sailor gave his sweetheart a tender ___ on the cheek.
Choose one answer.
Buss is an old word for a kiss. Bus is a vehicle, bust is a sculpture of a head and shoulders, and boss is a person in charge.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “buss”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.