bucket

[ buhk-it ]

/ ˈbʌk ɪt /

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See synonyms for: bucket / bucketed / bucketing / buckets on Thesaurus.com

noun

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.

bucket seat.

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

verb (used with object), buck·et·ed, buck·et·ing.

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

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), buck·et·ed, buck·et·ing.

Informal. to move or drive fast; hurry.

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Idioms about 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, Australian Slang. to implicate, incriminate, or expose.

kick the bucket, Slang. to die: His children were greedily waiting for him to kick the bucket.

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

regional variations of bucket

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.

Words nearby bucket

buck bean, buckboard, bucked, buckeen, bucker, bucket, bucket about, bucket brigade, bucket conveyor, bucketful, bucket ladder

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bucket in a sentence

While McInnes’ chopper carries its water in a bucket, that’s not the only way to do it.
How aerial firefighters battle blazes from the skies|Rob Verger|August 27, 2020|Popular-Science
Kobe and Shaq butted heads, did their own things, got buckets and won three rings.
LeBron And AD Dominate Like Kobe And Shaq. But Can They Win Like The Classic Lakers?|Robert O'Connell|August 24, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
These are in the low-touch, high-growth bucket which is a good thing for us.
‘It’s less dire than it seemed to be’: How The Wall Street Journal’s digital ads business has weathered the downturn|Lucinda Southern|August 20, 2020|Digiday
A centrifuge simulates gravity through centrifugal force — the effect that keeps water in the bottom of a bucket when you swing it over your head.
What will astronauts need to survive the dangerous journey to Mars?|Maria Temming|July 15, 2020|Science News

Another problem in this third bucket — it’s a big bucket — is when the person who designed the intervention and masterminded the initial trial can no longer be so involved once the program scales up to multiple locations.
Policymaking Is Not a Science (Yet) (Ep. 405)|Stephen J. Dubner|February 13, 2020|Freakonomics
An 18-year-old Swedish rapper/Internet meme has inspired legions of impressionable teens to get based in bucket hats.
The Cult of Yung Lean: ‘I’m Building An Anarchistic Society From the Ground Up’|Marlow Stern|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Early one morning I was passing out hot water, when a man showed me a bucket of blood from his slashed wrists and asked for help.
A Million Ways to Die in Prison|Daniel Genis|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her solution: a bucket list of influential people and places to visit and photograph.
Annie Leibovitz Talks About ‘Pilgrimage,’ Susan Sontag, Vogue & More|Justin Jones|November 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Somehow, their message has gone from lunch-bucket concerns to a date with Girls.
Earth to DNC: Dyspeptic Dad Still Votes, Too|Lloyd Green|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was on a hike to the Grand Canyon at age 18 that Shattuck penned her first bucket list.
From Baltimore Ravens Cheerleader to Mrs. Robinson|Brandy Zadrozny|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A fellow was dropt down in the bucket, and soon bawled out from the bottom, "I have found the punch-ladle, so wind me up."
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
A broken broom, covered with very ancient cobwebs, lay under one manger, and the remnants of a stable-bucket under another.
The Portsmouth Road and Its Tributaries|Charles G. Harper
When the bucket came up full of water, the top was all yellow with dandelions.
The Nursery, August 1873, Vol. XIV. No. 2|Various
If he has stolen a watering bucket or a harrow, he shall pay three shekels of silver.
The Oldest Code of Laws in the World|Hammurabi, King of Babylon
With a bucket of water and a broomstick he beat out the fire, and went for a run to warm up.
Love's Pilgrimage|Upton Sinclair

British Dictionary definitions for bucket

bucket

/ (ˈbʌkɪt) /

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

mainly US a turbine rotor blade

Australian and NZ an ice cream container

kick the bucket slang to die

verb -kets, -keting or -keted

(tr) to carry in or put into a bucket

(intr often foll by down) (of rain) to fall very heavilyit bucketed all day

(intr often foll by along) mainly British to travel or drive fast

(tr) mainly British to ride (a horse) hard without consideration

(tr) Australian slang to criticize severely

Word Origin for bucket

C13: from Anglo-French buket, from Old English būc; compare Old High German būh belly, German Bauch belly

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with bucket

bucket

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

bucket

Idioms about bucket

Origin of bucket

regional variations of bucket

Words nearby bucket

Words related to bucket

How to use bucket in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bucket

Word Origin for bucket

Other Idioms and Phrases with bucket