buss

noun

/bʌs/

Etymology

Uncertain. First attested in the 1560s. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰus- (“lip, to kiss”) via Proto-Germanic *busaną (compare German bussen), but in any case imitative of kissing. Compare Welsh bus (“kiss, lip”) and Irish bus (“lips, mouth”) (both may have influenced English), Persian بوس (bus, “kiss”), Latvian buča (“kiss”), Latin basium (“kiss”). Mainstream proposals like in The Free Dictionary have suggested it is a blend of old English dialect words bass (related to French baiser) and cuss (akin to kissen); perhaps compare puss.

derived from bush
derived from busse

Definitions

1
A kiss.
- Here he gave Jones a hearty buss, shook him by the hand, and took his leave.
2
To kiss (either literally or figuratively).
- I will thinke thou smil'st, And busse thee as thy wife.
- 'I take the privilege, Mistress Ruth, of saluting you.' ...And therewith I bussed her well.
- As the repatriated explorer dodges down to buss the earth […] he is so thoroughly caught up in the rhapsody of the moment that he fails to take into account the traffic behind him.
3
To kiss.
- In the faint glow of a single blue bulb hanging from a clothesline they bussed and fondled.
›+ 5 more definitionsshow fewer
1. 4
  A herring buss, a type of shallow-keeled Dutch fishing boat used especially for herring…
  A herring buss, a type of shallow-keeled Dutch fishing boat used especially for herring fishing.
  - the Dutch whalers and herring busses
2. Archaic form of bus (“passenger vehicle”).
3. Alternative form of bussing (“enjoyable, delicious”)
4. 7
  A blunderbuss.
  - By the immortal powers, if you had let Rory put a few slugs into the old buss, he'd have settled the baronet's hash altogether.
5. A surname.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for buss. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA