Word.ws English Dictionary

busman's holiday

Syllables: bus·man’s hol·i·dayUK/ˌbʌsmənz ˈhɒlɪdeɪ/US/ˌbʌsmənz ˈhɑləˌdeɪ/

busman's holiday noun: a holiday or vacation during which one does something similar to what one does as work.

Noun

busman's holiday (plural busman's holidays or busmen's holidays)

  1. (idiomatic) A holiday or vacation during which one does something similar to what one does as work.
    • I shall indeed take a holiday soon, probably on the Continent; but it will be a "Busman's Holiday." The bus-driver spends his "day off" in driving on a pal's bus, on the box-seat by his pal's side; and I know that night after night, all through my holiday, I shall be in and out of this hall and...1893 April, Albert Chevalier, “On Costers and Music Halls”, in Clement Kinloch-Cooke, editor, The English Illustrated Magazine, volume X, number 115, London: The Illustrated London News, →OCLC, page...
    • Is not the following a rather notable instance of "the busman's holiday"? At a recent meeting of the Twickenham Education Committee Mr. F. W. Pearce, who is surveyor to that body as well as to the urban district council, was asked what progress had been made with regard to the affixing of tablets...1914 August 7, “Things One would Like to Know”, in The Surveyor and Municipal and County Engineer, volume XLVI, number 1,177, London: The St. Bride’s Press, […], →OCLC, page 196, column 2

Examples of busman's holiday in a sentence

  • Is not the following a rather notable instance of "the busman's holiday"?1914 August 7, “Things One would Like to Know”, in The Surveyor and Municipal and County Engineer, volume XLVI, number 1,177, London: The...
  • While it would seem that the judges have a long vacation each year, they actually have a sort of "busman's holiday" in that they take their "homework" with them.1969, George G. Bruntz, John Bremer, “The Federal Court System”, in American Government, [Boston, Mass.]: Ginn and Company, →OCLC, unit V...
  • Although it is in the nature of a busman's holiday, I always try to visit a nursery and a botanic garden when I'm traveling.1994, Diane Heilenman, “Plant Sources”, in Gardening in the Lower Midwest: A Practical Guide for the New Zones 5 and 6, Bloomington...
  • Janet [Berton] accompanied him on these busman's holidays whenever circumstances permitted.2008, A[lexander] B[rian] McKillop, “The Drop on This World”, in Pierre Berton: A Biography, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland & Stewart, →ISBN...

Forms of busman's holiday

pluralbusman's holidays
pluralbusmen's holidays

Origin of busman's holiday

From busman + -’s + holiday, from the idea that a bus driver, to go off on a holiday, would take an excursion by bus or go on a long drive and thereby engage in a similar activity to his work.

Questions about busman's holiday

What does busman's holiday mean?
Busman's holiday means a holiday or vacation during which one does something similar to what one does as work.
How do you use busman's holiday in a sentence?
Is not the following a rather notable instance of "the busman's holiday"?
What part of speech is busman's holiday?
Busman's holiday is a noun.
How do you pronounce busman's holiday?
Busman's holiday is pronounced /ˌbʌsmənz ˈhɒlɪdeɪ/ (UK).
What is the plural of busman's holiday?
The plural of busman's holiday is busman's holidays.

Words near busman's holiday in the dictionary

  1. Busleys
  2. buslike
  3. busload
  4. busloads
  5. busman
  6. busman's holiday
  7. busman's holidays
  8. busmate
  9. busmates
  10. busmen
  11. busmen's holidays

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: busman's holiday (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-busman's holiday.ogg.

Cite this entry: “busman's holiday.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/busman%27s_holiday. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.