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

As the cleanup has progressed, Lineage has been racking up thousands of dollars in fines from public health regulators — a drop in the bucket for the global cold storage juggernaut.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

When the first tranche of files was made public, he said they represented a "drop in the bucket" compared to what was to come.

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

The problem with this way of thinking is that each of us contributes an infinitesimally small drop in the bucket of global greenhouse gases.

From Slate ● May 15, 2026

"It's a drop in the bucket compared to what this country needs. It means next to nothing," said Raul Pomares, a 56-year-old gardener waiting for a taxi in the capital.

From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026

Gran had left such a big hole in our lives to fill that I wondered if I could even be a drop in the bucket.

From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce

Related Words

• bit
• trivial amount