pail
Americannoun
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a bucket, esp one made of wood or metal
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Also called: pailful. the quantity that fills a pail
Regionalisms
See bucket.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pail
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; see patella
Explanation
A pail is a round, open container with a handle. At the beach, you can use a pail to carry water and sand, and also to mold the towers of your sandcastle. You can also call a pail a bucket — although pail implies a smaller container, exactly the sort a child would use, along with a small shovel, when playing in a sandbox. You might also use a pail to catch drips from a leaky ceiling, or pour a small amount of paint into a pail when you're touching up the trim in your bedroom. This word comes from the Old French paelle, "cooking or frying pan."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Stine's other book series include "The Nightmare Room," "Garbage Pail Kids," "Mostly Ghostly" and "Fear Street."
From Salon • Sep. 4, 2022
Pry’s background includes time working with Bud Foster, the longtime Hokies coordinator whose Lunch Pail defense came to define the unit’s rugged, swarming approach.
From Washington Post • Dec. 2, 2021
Then came the Garbage Pail Kids, a line of flatulent, filthy trading cards that mocked the Cabbage Patch Kids, with names such as Junkfood John and Intense Payne.
From The Guardian • Aug. 8, 2019
So here you go: Get a first look at The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, assuming you never got around to watching The Garbage Pail Kids Movie or any of its associated advertising:
From Slate • Sep. 19, 2018
Two other regular characters, a shovel and a pail, are called Shovel and Pail.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
