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.
See Examples For:
The reality is, however, she can’t and won’t; at some point, the bell rings and she must put on her coveralls and shake the pail of lip liners in front of us.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026
Dan and Craig went up the hill to fetch a pail of glory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
The complete lineup also included a green pail with a monster design, an orange one with a skeleton design and a white one with a mummy design.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2024
The simplicity of a brain plopped in a pail for scientific research becomes something of a mordant sight gag.
From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2024
“Willodeen!” he cried as he passed a metal pail to the woman beside him.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
Removing stagnant water, such as by emptying flowerpot plates, overturning unused pails and breaking up hardened soil, can help break the dengue transmission cycle.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
If you’d asked that question around Southern California even into the 1950s, the answer would have been a big full-dairy-fat “yes,” pails and gallons and maybe even acre-feet of milk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2026
Customers can customize their festive pails with themed stickers for “a truly monstrous makeover.”
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2024
Schools hold mock water rationing exercises where water taps are shut off and students collect water in pails.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2024
All the pails and buckets were heaping full of dripping, golden honeycomb.
From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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.
