busing

[buhs-ing] /ˈbʌs ɪŋ/
noun
1.
the transporting of public-school students by bus to schools outside their neighborhoods, especially as a means of achieving racial balance.
Also, bussing.
Origin
1885-90; bus1 (v.) + -ing1, spelled irregular with single s, perhaps to avoid association with buss1

bus1

[buhs] /bʌs/
noun, plural buses, busses.
1.
a large motor vehicle, having a long body, equipped with seats or benches for passengers, usually operating as part of a scheduled service; omnibus.
2.
a similar horse-drawn vehicle.
3.
a passenger automobile or airplane used in a manner resembling that of a bus.
4.
any vehicle operated to transport children to school.
5.
a low, movable filing cabinet.
6.
Electricity. Also called bus bar, busbar
[buhs-bahr] /ˈbʌsˌbɑr/ (Show IPA). a heavy conductor, often made of copper in the shape of a bar, used to collect, carry, and distribute powerful electric currents, as those produced by generators.
7.
Computers. a circuit that connects the CPU with other devices in a computer.
verb (used with object), bused or bussed, busing or bussing.
8.
to convey or transport by bus:
to bus the tourists to another hotel.
9.
to transport (pupils) to school by bus, especially as a means of achieving racial integration.
verb (used without object), bused or bussed, busing or bussing.
10.
to travel on or by means of a bus:
We bused to New York on a theater trip.
Idioms
11.
throw under the bus. throw (def 57).
Origin
1825-35; short for omnibus; (def 6) short for omnibus bar
Can be confused
bussed, bust.

bus2

[buhs] /bʌs/
verb (used without object), verb (used with object), bused or bussed, busing or bussing.
1.
to work or act as a busboy or busgirl:
She bused for her meals during her student days.
Origin
1830-40; back formation from busboy
Examples from the web for busing
  • Community divisions are likely to persist, since busing supporters threaten lawsuits if the new board ends the busing.
  • Bigger housing projects and busing struck him as dead ends.
  • busing is dead as social policy, and affirmative action is tottering.
  • He spent his childhood summers busing tables in the vacation area's lesser hotels.
  • But there is a big difference between busing and vouchers.
  • Such problems can be fixed, by adjusting school catchment areas or-dread word-busing.
  • One huge negative is that running two parallel systems is hugely expensive and involves a ridiculous amount of busing.
  • They set off jauntily, she getting a job busing tables, he doing manual labor.
  • Until human beings cleanse themselves of bigotry, busing will do nothing to bridge the gap between the races.
  • Not to the suburbs, where many may resent vouchers as busing by other means.
British Dictionary definitions for busing

bus

/bʌs/
noun (pl) buses, busses
1.
a large motor vehicle designed to carry passengers between stopping places along a regular route More formal name omnibus Sometimes called motorbus
2.
short for trolleybus
3.
(modifier) of or relating to a bus or buses: a bus driver, a bus station
4.
(informal) a car or aircraft, esp one that is old and shaky
5.
(electronics, computing) short for busbar
6.
the part of a MIRV missile payload containing the re-entry vehicles and guidance and thrust devices
7.
(astronautics) a platform in a space vehicle used for various experiments and processes
8.
miss the bus, to miss an opportunity; be too late
verb buses, busing, bused, busses, bussing, bussed
9.
to travel or transport by bus
10.
(mainly US & Canadian) to transport (children) by bus from one area to a school in another in order to create racially integrated classes
Word Origin
C19: short for omnibus
Word Origin and History for busing

bus

n.

1832, abbreviation of omnibus (q.v.). The modern English noun is nothing but a Latin dative plural ending. To miss the bus, in the figurative sense of "lose an opportunity," is from 1901, Australian English (OED has a figurative miss the omnibus from 1886). Busman's holiday "leisure time spent doing what one does for a living" (1893) is probably a reference to London bus drivers riding the buses on their days off.

v.

1838, "to travel by omnibus," from bus (n.). Transitive meaning "transport students to integrate schools" is from 1961, American English. Meaning "clear tables in a restaurant" is first attested 1913, probably from the four-wheeled cart used to carry dishes. Related: Bused; busing.

busing in Culture

busing definition


The movement of students from one neighborhood to a school in another neighborhood, usually by bus and usually to break down de facto segregation of public schools.

Note: A Supreme Court decision in 1971 ruling that busing was an appropriate means of achieving integrated schools (see integration) was received with widespread, sometimes violent, resistance, particularly among whites into whose neighborhoods and schools black children were to be bused. In 1991, the Court ruled that school districts could end busing if they had done everything “practicable” to eliminate the traces of past discrimination.
Slang definitions & phrases for busing

bus

noun
  1. A car: Whose old bus is in the drive? (1919+)
  2. An aircraft (1916+)
  3. An ambulance: Roger oneoh-four, do we need a bus? (1980s+ Police)
verb

To clear dirty dishes and tableware from the tables in a restaurant or cafeteria (1913+)

Related Terms

jitney, miss the bus, rubberneck wagon

[the restaurant sense probably fr the four-wheeled cart often used to carry dishes]