omnibus
Syllables: om·ni·bus/ˈɒmnɪbəs//ˈɑmnɪbəs/
omnibus noun: a bus (vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads).
Noun
omnibus (plural omnibuses or omnibusses or (nonstandard) omnibi)
- A bus (vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads).
- In front of the latter [coach-houses for railway carriages] is a handsome building, intended as offices for the clerks of the Company, coach-offices, and apartments for the reception and accommodation of passengers, who will be conveyed thither in omnibusses from Liverpool, and taking their...1830, James Scott Walker, “The Small Tunnel”, in An Accurate Description of the Liverpool and Manchester Rail-way, the Tunnel, the Bridges, and Other Works throughout the Line; an Account of the...
- 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.1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 16
- An anthology of previously released material linked together by theme or author, especially in book form.
- This work is an omnibus containing all books in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past series.
- Orb published an omnibus by Hal Clement, Heavy Planet, containing his novels Mission of Gravity and Star Light, plus other related material, and an omnibus of three of James White's "Sector General" novels, Alien Emergencies, as well as a reissue of A[lfred] E[lton] [v]an Vogt's The World of Null-A.2003, “Summation: 2002”, in Gardner Dozois, editor, The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twentieth Annual Collection, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page xxvi
- 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.
- In late 1959, well before he was required to adapt his six-part Quatermass and the Pit teleplay into a ninety-seven-minute film script, [Nigel] Kneale supervised the editing of the BBC version into two feature-length episodes for a repeat broadcast. In 1989, he had another go at it, trimming the...2014, Kim Newman, “Introduction”, in Quatermass and the Pit, London: Palgrave Macmillan on behalf of the British Film Institute, →ISBN, page 7
- A stamp issue, usually commemorative, that appears simultaneously in several countries as a joint issue.
- [M]any of the African nations issuing the World Cup stamps have pandered to international collectors, with some stamps not even sold in the country of issue. These ‘omnibus’ stamps featured topics and individuals with no links to the issuing country. African stamps displaying Disney themes...2013, Agbenyega Adedze, “Visualizing the Game: The Iconography of Football on African Postage Stamps”, in Susann Baller, Giorgio Miescher, Ciraj Rassool, editors, Global Perspectives on Football in...
- An assistant waiter.
- “Then you divide your army amongst the various houses where restorations are ordered for Jubilee day?” / “Certainly—say one waiter to ten guests—if it was a dinner we should send one waiter to six guests—with runners, of course.” / “Runners?” / “Omnibuses you call them here—young...1897 June 19, “The Jubilee Waiters. Some Words with the Maître d’Hôtel.”, in The Daily News, number 15,984, London, →OCLC, page 2, column 6
- 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.1912 June 1, Mary Alden Hopkins, “International Hotel Workers’ Strike”, in Collier’s: The National Weekly, volume XLIX, number 11, New York, N.Y.: P. F. Collier & Son, Incorporated, →ISSN, →OCLC...
- an omnibus box.
Adjective
omnibus (not comparable)
- Containing multiple items.
- The legislature enacted an omnibus appropriations bill.
- The inventors face a similar uphill battle in their fight against the omnibus bill.1996 June 3, Sabra Chartrand, “Patents; Some independent inventors cry foul about an omnibus bill to reshape the patent system”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
- Of a transportation service, calling at every station, as opposed to express; local.
Verb
omnibus (third-person singular simple present omnibuses or omnibusses, present participle omnibusing or omnibussing, simple past and past participle omnibused or omnibussed)
- 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.1927, Denis Tilden Lynch, chapter XXIII, in “Boss” Tweed: The Story of a Grim Generation, New York, N.Y.: Boni & Liveright, →OCLC; reprinted New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 2002, →ISBN...
- 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!1857, A[braham] Oakey Hall, “Trot the Seventh.—A New York Omnibus has a Singular Fare on a Stormy Night, and what Came of It”, in Old Whitey’s Christmas Trot. A Story for the Holidays, New York...
- To travel or be transported by omnibus.
- [W]hat would not be the effect on the goods, and even on the passenger traffic, of the Grand Junction and London and Birmingham lines, if two miles of the rails were to-morrow taken up through the town of Birmingham, so that the first (good) had all to be carted, and the second (passengers) had all...1842 February 12, “Observator” [pseudonym], “Liverpool and Manchester and Manchester and Leeds Railways [letter]”, in Supplement to The Railway Times, volume V, number 7, part II (number 215 from the...
- […] Sharon Springs are five hours from Albany, three by railroad, and two by stage-coach. Passengers arrive in time to dress comfortably for dinner. The drive up is not particularly picturesque, but it is through woods and fields, and this, as a change from omnibusing between sidewalks and brick...1848 June 15, N[athaniel] Parker Willis, “[Letters from Watering-places.] Letter I.”, in Rural Letters and Other Records of Thought at Leisure, Written in the Intervals of More Hurried Literary...
omnibus meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
omnibus in Hindi
- ऑम्निबस, ओम्निबस
omnibus in Tamil
- பேருந்து, ஒத்த பொருளுடைய எழுத்துத் தொகுதி
omnibus in Marathi
- ऑम्निबस
omnibus in Urdu
- مجموعہ
More languagesFewer languages
- omnibus in Bengali
- সবার জন্য বাস, সর্বসাধারণের জন্য যান, সংকলন গ্রন্থ
- omnibus in Telugu
- ఓమ్నిబస్, ఒమ్నిబస్
- omnibus in Malayalam
- ഒരുവക വലിയ നാലുരുൾ കുതിരവണ്ടി, മഹാരഥം, എല്ലാവർക്കും കയറാവുന്ന ബസ്സ്
- omnibus in Kannada
- ಓಮ್ನಿಬಸ್, ಒಮ್ನಿಬಸ್
- omnibus in Gujarati
- ઓમ્નિબસ
- omnibus in Odia
- ଓମ୍ନିବସ୍
- omnibus in Nepali
- ओम्निबस, ओम्नीबस
Examples of omnibus in a sentence
- "Please," his voice quavered through the foul brown air, "Please, is that an omnibus?" / "Omnibus est," said the driver, without turning round.1911, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, “The Celestial Omnibus. [Chapter II.]”, in The Celestial Omnibus: And Other Stories, London: Sidgwick &...
- Omnibuses were advertised to run in connection with the trains to and from points in the City and West End; fare to the former 3d., to the latter 6d. from Bricklayers Arms.1944 July and August, Reginald B. Fellows, “The Failure of Bricklayers Arms as a Passenger Station—I”, in Railway Magazine, page 212:
- Omnibus, my friend Mr. [Donald] Swann informs me, comes from the Latin omnibus, meaning to or for by with or from everybody, which is a very good description.[1959 May 2, Michael Flanders, “A Transport of Delight”, in At the Drop of a Hat, [New York, N.Y.?]: Parlophone, →OCLC, PCSO 3001, audio...
- Baldrick, I want you to take this [money] and go out, and buy a turkey so large you'd think its mother had been rogered by an omnibus.1988 December 23, Richard Curtis, Ben Elton, Blackadder's Christmas Carol, spoken by Ebenezer Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson), London: BBC...
Synonyms of omnibus
Forms of omnibus
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | omnibuses |
| plural | omnibusses |
| plural (nonstandard) | omnibi |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | omnibuses |
| third-person singular present | omnibusses |
| present participle | omnibusing |
| present participle | omnibussing |
| past participle | omnibused |
| past | omnibused |
| past participle | omnibussed |
| past | omnibussed |
Origin of omnibus
Borrowed from French (voiture) omnibus (“(carriage) for all”), from Latin omnibus (“for all”), dative plural of omnis (“all”).
Words formed from omnibus
Phrases with omnibus
Words that rhyme with omnibus
Questions about omnibus
- What does omnibus mean?
- Omnibus means a bus (vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads).
- What is omnibus in Hindi?
- Omnibus in Hindi is ऑम्निबस, ओम्निबस. See Omnibus meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use omnibus in a sentence?
- "Please," his voice quavered through the foul brown air, "Please, is that an omnibus?" / "Omnibus est," said the driver, without turning round.
- What part of speech is omnibus?
- Omnibus can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce omnibus?
- Omnibus is pronounced /ˈɒmnɪbəs/ (UK).
- What is the plural of omnibus?
- The plural of omnibus is omnibuses.
Words near omnibus in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: omnibus (page history and authors); omnibus (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); omnibus (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); omnibus (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); omnibus (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); omnibus (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); omnibus (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); omnibus (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); omnibus (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); omnibus (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); omnibus (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); omnibus (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-omnibus.ogg, en-au-omnibus.ogg, En-us-omnibus.ogg.
Cite this entry: “omnibus.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/omnibus. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.