- a puzzle consisting of pictures representing syllables and words; in such a puzzle the word hear might be represented by H followed by a picture of an ear
- a heraldic emblem or device that is a pictorial representation of or pun on the name of the bearer
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2019
re•bus /ˈribəs/USA pronunciation
n.[countable], pl. -bus•es.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2019- a representation of a word or phrase by pictures, symbols, etc., that suggest that word or phrase or its syllables:Two gates and a head is a rebus for Gateshead.
re•bus
(rē′bəs),USA pronunciation n., pl. -bus•es.
- a representation of a word or phrase by pictures, symbols, etc., that suggest that word or phrase or its syllables:Two gates and a head is a rebus for Gateshead.
- a piece of writing containing many such representations.
- Latin rēbus by things (ablative plural of rēs), in phrase nōn verbīs sed rēbus not by words but by things
- 1595–1605
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
rebus /ˈriːbəs/ n ( pl -buses)
'rebus' also found in these entries: