bucket

American  

[buhk-it] / ˈbʌk ɪt /

noun

1. 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.

2. anything resembling or suggesting this.

3. Machinery.

   1. any of the scoops attached to or forming the endless chain in certain types of conveyors or elevators.

   2. the scoop or clamshell of a steam shovel, power shovel, or dredge.

   3. a vane or blade of a waterwheel, paddle wheel, water turbine, or the like.

4. (in a dam) a concave surface at the foot of a spillway for deflecting the downward flow of water.

5. a bucketful.

   a bucket of sand.

6. Basketball.

   1. Informal. field goal.

   2. the part of the keyhole extending from the foul line to the end line.

7. bucket seat.

8. Bowling. a leave of the two, four, five, and eight pins, or the three, five, six, and nine pins.

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verb (used with object)

bucketed, bucketing

1. to lift, carry, or handle in a bucket (often followed by up orout ).

2. Chiefly British. to ride (a horse) fast and without concern for tiring it.

3. to handle (orders, transactions, etc.) in or as if in a bucket shop.

verb (used without object)

bucketed, bucketing

1. Informal. to move or drive fast; hurry.

idioms

1. kick the bucket, to die.

   His children were greedily waiting for him to kick the bucket.

2. 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.

3. drop the bucket on, to implicate, incriminate, or expose.

bucket British  

/ ˈbʌkɪt /

noun

1. an open-topped roughly cylindrical container; pail

2. Also called: bucketful.  the amount a bucket will hold

3. any of various bucket-like parts of a machine, such as the scoop on a mechanical shovel

4. a cupped blade or bucket-like compartment on the outer circumference of a water wheel, paddle wheel, etc

5. computing a unit of storage on a direct-access device from which data can be retrieved

6. a turbine rotor blade

7. an ice cream container

8. slang to die

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verb

1. (tr) to carry in or put into a bucket

2. (of rain) to fall very heavily

   it bucketed all day

3. to travel or drive fast

4. (tr) to ride (a horse) hard without consideration

5. slang (tr) to criticize severely

bucket More Idioms  

1. see drop in the bucket; kick the bucket; rain cats and dogs (buckets); weep buckets.

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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

Example Sentences

“Independent theaters are now buying these popcorn buckets, because it’s a part of the fandom experience.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Younger kids can romp around on rolling blue installations that mimic waves, slide a 'Ponyo' figure across an ocean wall, or hide in a replica of Sosuke's green bucket which he used to collect goldfish.

From Barron's

USC still found itself in a precarious place late, up just a single bucket with less than two minutes remaining.

From Los Angeles Times

But that doesn’t help much with modeling an income statement and the impact that depreciation has on each cost bucket.

From The Wall Street Journal

It has storage capacity for buckets and stuff.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• can
• canister
• cask
• kettle
• pail
• pot