kick the bucket

Cultural  

1. To die: “Scarcely anyone was sorry when the old tyrant finally kicked the bucket.”

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kick the bucket Idioms  

1. Die, as in All of my goldfish kicked the bucket while we were on vacation. This moderately impolite usage has a disputed origin. Some say it refers to committing suicide by hanging, in which one stands on a bucket, fastens a rope around one's neck, and kicks the bucket away. A more likely origin is the use of bucket in the sense of “a beam from which something may be suspended” because pigs were suspended by their heels from such beams after being slaughtered, the term kick the bucket came to mean “to die.” [Colloquial; late 1700s]

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Example Sentences

For many in the crowd, it will be an item on their bucket list — that is, something they’ve convinced themselves they have to do before they kick the bucket.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 31, 2025

"Win a cup before I kick the bucket."

From BBC • Mar. 15, 2025

Stocklin didn’t want to kick the bucket without fulfilling his dream of racing hydroplanes.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 4, 2023

So yes, of course, Hastings wants linear TV to kick the bucket.

From The Verge • Jul. 19, 2022

I’m betting it’s charity work, or maybe he’s been secretly chatting with Aimee and arranging a meet-up so she and I can make things right before I kick the bucket.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera