omnibus

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A bus (vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads).

   • Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and raging. No omnibus, cab, or conveyance ever built could contain a young man in such a rage. His mother lived at Pembridge Square, which is four good measured miles from Lincoln's Inn.
   • "Please," his voice quavered through the foul brown air, "Please, is that an omnibus?" / "Omnibus est," said the driver, without turning round.
2. 2

   An anthology of previously released material linked together by theme or author,…

   An anthology of previously released material linked together by theme or author, especially in book form.

3. 3

   A broadcast programme consisting of all of the episodes of a serial that have been shown…

   A broadcast programme consisting of all of the episodes of a serial that have been shown in the previous week.

   • The omnibus edition of The Archers is broadcast every Sunday morning at 11.00.
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   1. 4

      A stamp issue, usually commemorative, that appears simultaneously in several countries as…

      A stamp issue, usually commemorative, that appears simultaneously in several countries as a joint issue.

   2. 5

      An assistant waiter.

      • A waiter is paid $25 a month. He must pay his omnibus himself. The hotel does not pay the omnibuses. By this arrangement it comes about in some hotels that a waiter pays his omnibus more than he himself receives from wages.
      • Little omnibuses in white suits moved about, gathering up papers or napkins dropped by careless diners; bigger omnibuses in dinner jackets exported trays of dishes which the lordly artists of the serving force were above touching.
   3. 6

      an omnibus box.

   4. 7

      Containing multiple items.

      • The legislature enacted an omnibus appropriations bill.
      • The inventors face a similar uphill battle in their fight against the omnibus bill.
   5. 8

      Of a transportation service, calling at every station, as opposed to express

      Of a transportation service, calling at every station, as opposed to express; local.

   6. 9

      To combine (legislative bills, etc.) into a single package.

      • In the tax levy measure were omnibused all appropriations for the maintenance of government for the fiscal year.
   7. 10

      To drive an omnibus.

      • I'm two shillings short of usual rainy-day fares, and not a passenger is out, I'm certain—least ways can I see him, if there was. It's nice business, omnibusing is—in summer time!
   8. 11

      To travel or be transported by omnibus.

The neighborhood