bucket
Americannoun
-
a deep, cylindrical vessel, usually of metal, plastic, or wood, with a flat bottom and a semicircular bail, for collecting, carrying, or holding water, sand, fruit, etc.; pail.
-
anything resembling or suggesting this.
-
Machinery.
-
any of the scoops attached to or forming the endless chain in certain types of conveyors or elevators.
-
the scoop or clamshell of a steam shovel, power shovel, or dredge.
-
a vane or blade of a waterwheel, paddle wheel, water turbine, or the like.
-
-
(in a dam) a concave surface at the foot of a spillway for deflecting the downward flow of water.
-
a bucketful.
a bucket of sand.
-
Basketball.
-
Informal. field goal.
-
the part of the keyhole extending from the foul line to the end line.
-
-
Bowling. a leave of the two, four, five, and eight pins, or the three, five, six, and nine pins.
verb (used with object)
-
to lift, carry, or handle in a bucket (often followed by up orout ).
-
Chiefly British. to ride (a horse) fast and without concern for tiring it.
-
to handle (orders, transactions, etc.) in or as if in a bucket shop.
verb (used without object)
idioms
-
kick the bucket, to die.
His children were greedily waiting for him to kick the bucket.
-
drop in the bucket, a small, usually inadequate amount in relation to what is needed or requested.
The grant for research was just a drop in the bucket.
-
drop the bucket on, to implicate, incriminate, or expose.
noun
-
an open-topped roughly cylindrical container; pail
-
Also called: bucketful. the amount a bucket will hold
-
any of various bucket-like parts of a machine, such as the scoop on a mechanical shovel
-
a cupped blade or bucket-like compartment on the outer circumference of a water wheel, paddle wheel, etc
-
computing a unit of storage on a direct-access device from which data can be retrieved
-
a turbine rotor blade
-
an ice cream container
-
slang to die
verb
-
(tr) to carry in or put into a bucket
-
(of rain) to fall very heavily
it bucketed all day
-
to travel or drive fast
-
(tr) to ride (a horse) hard without consideration
-
slang (tr) to criticize severely
Regionalisms
Though both bucket and pail are used throughout the entire U.S., pail has its greatest use in the Northern U.S., and bucket is more commonly used elsewhere, especially in the Midland and Southern U.S.
Etymology
Origin of bucket
1250–1300; Middle English buket < Anglo-French < Old English bucc (variant of būc vessel, belly; cognate with German Bauch ) + Old French -et -et
Explanation
An open, round container with a handle is a bucket. You might take a bucket and shovel to the beach for making sand castles. Buckets are usually made of metal or plastic, and are typically used to carry liquids. A dairy farmer might catch milk in a metal bucket, announcing at the end of the morning, "I got six buckets of milk!" The expression "to kick the bucket" means to die — this particular meaning might stem from the French buquet, "balance," a beam that was used for hanging slaughtered animals.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Bucket shop patrons were positioned heavily for Amalgamated to rise, so the proprietors shorted the stock “to establish as low a quotation as possible,” the Journal wrote.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
In 2007, “The Bucket List,” a movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman about two terminally ill men and their quest to live life to its fullest during their final days, was released.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 31, 2025
For her holiday bars, she partnered with the event company Bucket Listers to open four locations across the country, in Los Angeles, New York City, Miami and Las Vegas.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025
Mourners have gathered for the funeral of actress Dame Patricia Routledge, known for playing Hyacinth Bucket in classic TV sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.
From BBC • Nov. 5, 2025
Mr. Bucket was the only person in the family with a job.
From "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
