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⇱ bucket - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

bucket

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UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈbʌkɪt/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈbʌkɪt/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(buk′it)

Inflections of 'bucket' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
buckets
v 3rd person singular
bucketing
v pres p
bucketed
v past
bucketed
v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
buck•et, /ˈbʌkɪt/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. a deep, round container with a flat bottom, an open top, and a handle;
    pail:He put the mop in the bucket of water.
  2. something, as a scoop, shaped like this:the bucket on a steam shovel.
  3. an amount (of something) carried in a bucket;
    bucketful: a bucket of sand.
  4. a large amount:[plural]It's raining buckets out there.
Idioms
  1. Idioms a drop in the bucket, a small, inadequate amount:That donation of fifty cents was just a drop in the bucket.
  2. Idioms, Slang Terms kick the bucket, Slang. to die:Too bad old Charrington kicked the bucket last week.


WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
buck•et  (buk′it),USA pronunciation n., v., -et•ed, -et•ing. 
n. 
  1. a deep, cylindrical vessel, usually of metal, plastic, or wood, with a flat bottom and a semicircular bail, for collecting, carrying, or holding water, sand, fruit, etc.;
    pail.
  2. anything resembling or suggesting this.
  3. [Mach.]
    • Mechanical Engineeringany of the scoops attached to or forming the endless chain in certain types of conveyors or elevators.
    • Mechanical Engineeringthe scoop or clamshell of a steam shovel, power shovel, or dredge.
    • Mechanical Engineeringa vane or blade of a waterwheel, paddle wheel, water turbine, or the like.
  4. Civil Engineering(in a dam) a concave surface at the foot of a spillway for deflecting the downward flow of water.
  5. a bucketful:a bucket of sand.
  6. [Basketball.]
    • Sport[Informal.]See field goal. 
    • Sportthe part of the keyhole extending from the foul line to the end line.
  7. AutomotiveSee bucket seat. 
  8. Sport[Bowling.]a leave of the two, four, five, and eight pins, or the three, five, six, and nine pins. See illus. under bowling. 
  9. Idioms drop in the bucket, a small, usually inadequate amount in relation to what is needed or requested:The grant for research was just a drop in the bucket.
  10. British Terms, Idioms drop the bucket on, [Australian Slang.]to implicate, incriminate, or expose.
  11. kick the bucket, [Slang.]to die:His children were greedily waiting for him to kick the bucket.

v.t. 
  1. to lift, carry, or handle in a bucket (often fol. by up or out).
  2. British Terms[Chiefly Brit.]to ride (a horse) fast and without concern for tiring it.
  3. to handle (orders, transactions, etc.) in or as if in a bucket shop.

v.i. 
  1. [Informal.]to move or drive fast;
    hurry.
  • Old English bucc (variant of būc vessel, belly; cognate with German Bauch) + Old French -et -et
  • Anglo-French
  • Middle English buket 1250–1300
    Though both bucket and pail are used throughout the entire U.S., pail has its greatest use in the Northern U.S., and bucket is more commonly used elsewhere, esp. in the Midland and Southern U.S.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
bucket /ˈbʌkɪt/ n
  1. an open-topped roughly cylindrical container; pail
  2. Also called: bucketful the amount a bucket will hold
  3. any of various bucket-like parts of a machine, such as the scoop on a mechanical shovel
  4. chiefly US a turbine rotor blade
  5. Austral NZ an ice cream container
  6. kick the bucket ⇒ slang to die
 vb ( -kets, -keting, -keted)
  1. (transitive) to carry in or put into a bucket
  2. (intransitive) often followed by down: (of rain) to fall very heavily
  3. (intransitive) often followed by along: chiefly Brit to travel or drive fast
  4. (transitive) Austral slang to criticize severely
Etymology: 13th Century: from Anglo-French buket, from Old English būc; compare Old High German būh belly, German Bauch belly
'bucket' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Collocations: the [car, truck] has bucket seats, the bucket brigade put out the fire, UK: [the rain is, it's] bucketing down, more...

🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "bucket" in the title:

(The Ford Mercury drove like a) bucket
a bucket of wings
a bucket's worth of chicken
A pail of water - bucket or pail?
allocated bucket
An ugly, old, yellow tin bucket stood beside the stove.
as clever as a stick in a bucket of pig swill
Boom truck/bucket truck/cherry picker
Brain Bucket
bucket a-go a well [Jamaican creole]
bucket adjustments
bucket boy's online
Bucket for bucket [basketball]
bucket kicker
Bucket list [actual or mental]?
Bucket of
bucket of parts that can be poured down a drain, and ultimately unblock it
Bucket of Water from Well (in)from Valley
bucket rail
bucket seat
bucket with a lid on it
bucket-butt
bucket-head rig
can't carry a tune in a bucket
Champagne bucket
Collective substantive for Bucket, Cooking pot, Axe
cross/check that off our <bucket list>
cry all night in a bucket
Dangle a Bucket Into a Well
drawing it <in> a bucket from the well
more...

Look up "bucket" at Merriam-Webster
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