busing

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The practice of transporting schoolchildren by bus to schools in other neighborhoods, in order to reduce social inequality or achieve racial integration.

   Busing transformed many districts as students traveled across town to fill integrated classrooms.

   Opponents of busing argued that long daily commutes harmed young children.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of bus.

   The district began busing children to schools in other neighborhoods to balance enrollment.

   He earned extra money busing dishes during the dinner rush.

   Note

   One -ing form does two jobs here. It is a participle in "the district is busing students" and a gerund in "busing tables pays little." Several verbs share it: carrying passengers, riding a bus yourself, and the American restaurant sense of clearing tables, the busboy's work. The object usually tells them apart, since children are carried and dishes are cleared. The American school-integration use hardened into the noun for the policy.

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