pail

[ peyl ]

noun

1. bucket.
2. the amount filling a pail.

pail

/ peɪl /

noun

1. a bucket, esp one made of wood or metal
2. Also calledpailful the quantity that fills a pail

Word History and Origins

Origin of pail¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English payle “wooden container,” continuing Old English pægel “wine container, liquid measure” (of unknown origin; compare Middle Dutch, Low German pegel “half pint”), by association with Old French paielle “pan,” from Latin patella; patella

Word History and Origins

Origin of pail¹

Old English pægel; compare Catalan paella frying pan, paella

Example Sentences

He went up to a park, in Inwood, northern Manhattan, and the garbage pails are all full and there’s papers flying around and there are these park employees just sitting there.

From Freakonomics

My nostrils have smelt the horrors of the (cloth) diaper pail.

From The Daily Beast

Homer uses metaphor—‘it was so crowded, it was like bees swarming over a pail of milk.’

From The Daily Beast

Let us try to set aside—preferably forever—the image of the ever-immaculate Romney crouched bare-assed over a pail.

From The Daily Beast

But it was hard to be the party of Wall Street and the party of the lunch-pail at the same time.

From The Daily Beast

At the farm-gate they met Dorothy, fresh and blooming as a rose, with a pail in each hand foaming to the brim with milk.

From Project Gutenberg

She kicked at Jehosophat and over went the pail of milk which his father had almost full.

From Project Gutenberg

Sometimes a milk-pail is represented near a lamb, or hanging on a crook by its side, or even resting on its back.

From Project Gutenberg

He listened carefully before, standing outside in the cold, he poured over his head and shoulders a pail of cold water.

From Project Gutenberg

The root thus broken up is rubbed about in a great pail, with water slowly added.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• canister
• container
• jug
• pot