What does bused mean?
'Bused' is the standard American English past tense and past participle of the verb 'bus', which itself derives from 'omnibus', the early nineteenth-century term for a horse-drawn public carriage. The word carries two main senses: transporting people by bus — often in organized contexts such as school desegregation programs or shuttling fans to events — and working as, or performing the duties of, a restaurant busperson who clears and resets tables. American writers strongly prefer the single-s spelling precisely to avoid confusion with the archaic verb 'buss', meaning to kiss; British usage more often permits 'bussed'. The transportation sense carries particular historical weight in the United States, where school busing became central to desegregation efforts in the 1960s and 1970s, giving the simple word a charged political resonance that persists in discussions of education policy.
verb (past tense and past participle of 'bus')Past tense and past participle of the verb 'bus': to transport someone by bus, or to clear away dirty dishes in a restaurant.
- To have transported people by bus, especially as a scheduled or organized service
- To have worked as a busboy or busgirl, clearing and resetting tables in a restaurant
- (Of dishes) To have been cleared away from tables in a restaurant
"The children were bused to school across town every morning."
"Thousands of fans were bused in from the parking lots before kickoff."
"She bused tables at a downtown diner to pay her way through college."
In American English, 'bused' won out over 'bussed' largely because writers wanted to avoid any whiff of the kissing word 'buss'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bused
'Bused' descends from 'bus', itself a shortened form of 'omnibus', the Latin-derived name ('for all') given to horse-drawn public carriages introduced in the early 19th century, first notably in Paris and then London. As motor buses replaced the omnibus, 'bus' became a verb meaning to transport by bus, with 'bused' as its regular past form. A competing double-s spelling, 'bussed', exists alongside the unrelated verb 'buss' (to kiss), which encouraged American usage to settle firmly on 'bused'.
Related word forms
How bused is actually used
American style strongly favors 'bused' over 'bussed' for the transportation sense, precisely because 'bussed' can suggest the archaic verb 'to buss' (to kiss). British usage is more tolerant of 'bussed'. In the restaurant sense, 'bused' applies both to the workers ('she bused tables') and, less commonly, to the dishes themselves.
Easily confused with bused
'Bussed' is an alternative spelling of the same verb form, but 'bussed' is also a past tense of the unrelated verb 'to buss', meaning to kiss.