# buss

Pronunciation: US say "BUS" /bʌs/; UK

## Verb

1. To kiss someone, either literally or in a figurative sense. *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: To kiss someone softly, often on the cheek.
   - _Sailors buss their sweethearts on the docks before the long voyage._
   - _The morning breeze busses the petals of every open rose._
3. To kiss, coming together lip to lip in affection or greeting.
   - Simple: To touch lips with another person as a sign of love or greeting.
   - _Beneath the old oak, the sweethearts bussed and then parted._
   - _They buss each time they meet after a long absence._

## Noun

4. A shallow-keeled Dutch fishing boat, used especially for catching herring.
   - Simple: A type of old Dutch fishing boat used mainly for catching herring.
   - _The painting showed a single buss riding low against the gray horizon._
   - _Herring busses sailed in fleets, processing their catch onboard._

## Noun

2. An act of kissing someone. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A kiss, especially a quick or loving one.
   - _She left a buss upon his brow as he slept._
   - _A friendly buss greeted each guest at the door._
5. Archaic form of bus. *(archaic)* — Archaic form of bus (“passenger vehicle”).
   - Simple: Archaic form of bus. An old-fashioned way of writing the word for a passenger vehicle.
   - _Crowds waited for the evening buss outside the depot._
   - _A horse-drawn buss once rattled down these very streets._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3** — First attested in the 1560s and of uncertain origin, but in any case imitative of the sound of kissing. It may come from Proto-Indo-European *bʰus- ("lip, to kiss") via Proto-Germanic *busaną, and it has been compared with Welsh bus ("kiss, lip"), Irish bus ("lips, mouth"), and Latin basium ("kiss"); some also suggest it blends the dialect words bass and cuss.
**Meaning 4** — From Dutch buis.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/buss (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).