miss the bus

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

an idiom meaning to fail to take advantage of an opportunity that has now passed, analogous to arriving at the bus stop just after the bus has departed and being forced to wait for the next service or accept that the journey will not happen; missing the bus implies a combination of tardiness, inattention, or hesitation that results in the loss of something valuable — a business deal, a social invitation, a window for action — and the phrase carries a mild reproach suggesting that the loss was avoidable; it is often used retrospectively, as a diagnosis of why something did not work out, though it can also be used as a warning to act before the opportunity departs