bucket
noun /ˈbʌkɪt/
/ˈbʌkɪt/
Idioms - [countable] an open container with a handle, used for carrying or holding liquids, sand, etc. synonym pail
enlarge image- a plastic bucket
- (British English) They were playing on the beach with their buckets and spades.
Extra ExamplesTopics Houses and homesc1- The children ran down to the beach with their buckets and spades.
- The cleaner put down his mop and bucket and sat down.
- The sand had spilt from the fire bucket.
- a slop bucket full of scraps of food
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- empty
- full
- galvanized
- …
- fill
- carry
- dump
- …
- be full of something
- contain something
- hold something
- …
- in a/the bucket
- bucket of
- a bucket and spade
- mop and bucket
- [countable] a large container that is part of a crane or digger and is used for lifting things
- (also bucketful[countable] the amount contained in a bucket/ˈbʌkɪtfʊl//ˈbʌkɪtfʊl/)
- two buckets/bucketfuls of water
- by the bucket/bucketful They used to drink tea by the bucketful (= in large quantities).
Extra Examples- She poured the bucket of dirty water down the drain.
- a bucket of oats for the horses
- big buckets of popcorn and Coke
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- empty
- full
- galvanized
- …
- fill
- carry
- dump
- …
- be full of something
- contain something
- hold something
- …
- in a/the bucket
- bucket of
- a bucket and spade
- mop and bucket
- buckets[plural] (informal) a large amount
- To succeed in show business, you need buckets of confidence.
- We wept buckets.
- He was sweating buckets by the end of the race.
- The rain was coming down in buckets (= it was raining very heavily).
Word OriginMiddle English: from Anglo-Norman French buquet ‘tub, pail’, perhaps from Old English būc ‘belly, pitcher’.
Idioms
a drop in the bucket (North American English)
(British English a drop in the ocean)
- an amount of something that is too small or unimportant to make any real difference to a situation
- The amount of money raised was a drop in the bucket compared to what we needed.
kick the bucket
- (informal or humorous) to die