drop in the bucket

Idioms  

1. A very small quantity, especially one that is too small. For example, These contributions are just a drop in the bucket; the new church wing will cost thousands more. John Wycliffe's followers used this seemingly modern phrase in their translation of the Bible (1382), and it also appears in the 1611 King James version (Isaiah 40:15): “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

drop in the bucket

And the $12.5 billion he will receive from the Lakers flip is only a drop in the bucket.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

“Because we are still talking a bout a drop in the bucket in terms of Treasury debt out there,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026

The oil Hengli buys is a drop in the bucket for China, which has imported more than 4 billion barrels annually in recent years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Both sales were just a drop in the bucket.

From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026

As much of a warning as that was, it still didn’t sink in as deeply as it should have—because the official responses were, well, literally, a drop in the bucket.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Related Words

• bit
• trivial amount