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Glite Dictionary
to miss the bus

to miss the bus

14 3.8
Fail to get on a bus before it leaves or lose an important chance
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : perder el autobús
  • I woke up late this morning and ended up missing the bus to work.
  • miss the bus again
  • be late and miss the bus
  • miss the bus coming home

Fine, lady, you missed the bus.

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Examples

Synonyms

to miss out
vsto miss the bus
176 3.6

Lose the chance to enjoy something good

focuses more on not experiencing something than on failing to act
to pass up
vsto miss the bus
63 4.1

To choose not to accept a good offer or chance

is about failing to get a chance rather than deciding to decline it
to miss an opportunity
vsto miss the bus
14 2.8

Fail to use a chance to do something you want

also covers the literal case of failing to get on a departing vehicle
to blow a chance
vsto miss the bus
  • Informal
8 4.9

Miss a good opportunity by making a mistake

may be the same failure but can occur accidentally or from bad timing
to miss a flight
vsto miss the bus
1 2.7

To fail to get on a plane because you arrive late

also applies to failing to board other transport and to missed opportunities

Antonyms

to catch the bus
9 1.0

To get on a bus before it leaves

How Late

to miss the bus
14 3.8

Surface Forms

miss the bus infinitive
missed the bus past
missed the bus past participle
missing the bus present participle
misses the bus third person singular

Morphology

miss + the + bus

The primary meaning 'to fail to get on a bus' is directly and compositionally derived from 'miss' (fail to catch/be present for) + 'bus' (the vehicle), so a B1 learner who knows the words will understand the literal sense. The figurative sense 'to miss an opportunity' is a predictable metaphorical extension of the literal scenario (missing a departing vehicle) and is cross-linguistically common, so it remains transparently inferable.

Etymology

Miss the bus comes from the simple image of someone who misses a bus as it drives away, so they are too late to get on. Because that person has lost their chance to travel, the phrase now also means 'to miss an opportunity'.