1
: a typically cylindrical vessel for catching, holding, or carrying liquids or solids
2
: something resembling a bucket: such as
a
: the scoop of an excavating machine
b
: one of the receptacles on the rim of a waterwheel
c
: one of the cups of an endless-belt conveyor
d
: one of the vanes of a turbine rotor
3
4
5
bucketed; bucketing; buckets
1
: to draw or lift in buckets
2
British
a
: to ride (a horse) hard
b
: to drive hurriedly or roughly
3
: to deal with in a bucket shop
2
a
: to move about haphazardly or irresponsibly
b
: to move roughly or jerkily
3
chiefly British, informal
: to rain very heavily : pour
It doesn't just rain here. It pours; it lashes; it buckets.—
Kathleen A. Quinn
—usually used with downKathleen A. QuinnRain bucketed down for the next two days …—Thurston Clarke
Thurston ClarkeSynonyms
Noun
- abundance
- barrel
- basketful
- boatload
- bunch
- bundle
- bushel
- carload
- chunk
- deal
- dozen
- fistful
- gobs
- good deal
- heap
- hundred
- lashings [chiefly British]
- lashins
- loads
- lot
- mass
- mess
- mountain
- much
- multiplicity
- myriad
- oodles
- pack
- passel
- peck
- pile
- plateful
- plenitude
- plentitude
- plenty
- pot
- potful
- profusion
- quantity
- raft
- reams
- scads
- sheaf
- shipload
- sight
- slew
- spate
- stack
- store
- ton
- truckload
- volume
- wad
- wealth
- yard
Verb
Examples of bucket in a Sentence
Noun
We used two buckets of paint to paint the living room.
made buckets of money in the stock market
Verb
bucketing water from the well, we raced to put out the fire
getting the troops into the bucketing landing craft proved to be challenging
Recent Examples on the WebAlia Wong, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
The video showed Isabella preparing for one of her chemotherapy drugs to be administered, sitting in her hospital room with her hands and feet submerged in buckets of ice.
—Vanessa Etienne, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024
That’s a drop in the bucket of Americans using GLP-1s for weight loss.
—Callie Holtermann, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2024
Costway Heavy Duty Kid Ride-On Excavator Young construction truck enthusiasts will enjoy playing with this ride-on excavator toy, which is actually operational: its two levers can raise and lower the bucket to scoop up sand or a small toy.
—Dorian Smith-Garcia, Parents, 8 Apr. 2024
Here hotel guests swim laps or sip sparkling rosé tucked into ice buckets while members work on a laptop or practice the old Hollywood tradition of the poolside meeting.
—Sunset Magazine, 8 Apr. 2024
California Fliers with ‘hate propaganda,’ conspiracy theories dumped on driveways in Fresno
March 1, 2024
In the video, the family is seen taking a bucket of chalk to draw over the swastikas.
—Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
The Wolves turned the ball over a bevy of times, which led to a number of Suns’ buckets.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 6 Apr. 2024
He’s got a small folding chair or perhaps a bucket with a padded lid.
—Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 4 Apr. 2024
Alon Jackson, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023
So he's got to figure out how to bucket Trump, bracket Trump, and pull people off of Trump.
—Nbc Universal, NBC News, 5 Nov. 2023
When Holly’s seemingly psychic abilities save her from a fatal disaster at school, her status in the community shifts from outcast to otherworldly icon — as if Carrie White had actually been crowned prom queen, and not bucketed with blood.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 7 Sep. 2023
Top handles are too formal, totes too casual, and buckets too trendy.
—Charlotte Davey, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Aug. 2023
The Fever seemingly had control of the game throughout the first 10 minutes of the game, scoring at will and bucketing 26 points.
—Indystar Sports, The Indianapolis Star, 19 July 2023
Products are bucketed into 107 categories — from clothing to footwear to household linens — and further segmented by weight.
—Olivia Rockeman, Fortune, 30 May 2023
But that gorgeous swamp was bucketed out around the time of Sleep Well Beast.
—James Robins, Vulture, 1 May 2023
The only reason the Nittany Lions are still on the bubble is that Cam Wynter nailed two late-game miracle buckets to win back-to-back games.
—Tanner McGrath, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2023
Noun
The final bucket includes a few thousand borrowers participating in Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which relieves the loans for people working in government jobs or positions that give back to the community.
—Alia Wong, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
The video showed Isabella preparing for one of her chemotherapy drugs to be administered, sitting in her hospital room with her hands and feet submerged in buckets of ice.
—Vanessa Etienne, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024
That’s a drop in the bucket of Americans using GLP-1s for weight loss.
—Callie Holtermann, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2024
Costway Heavy Duty Kid Ride-On Excavator Young construction truck enthusiasts will enjoy playing with this ride-on excavator toy, which is actually operational: its two levers can raise and lower the bucket to scoop up sand or a small toy.
—Dorian Smith-Garcia, Parents, 8 Apr. 2024
Here hotel guests swim laps or sip sparkling rosé tucked into ice buckets while members work on a laptop or practice the old Hollywood tradition of the poolside meeting.
—Sunset Magazine, 8 Apr. 2024
California Fliers with ‘hate propaganda,’ conspiracy theories dumped on driveways in Fresno
March 1, 2024
In the video, the family is seen taking a bucket of chalk to draw over the swastikas.
—Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
The Wolves turned the ball over a bevy of times, which led to a number of Suns’ buckets.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 6 Apr. 2024
He’s got a small folding chair or perhaps a bucket with a padded lid.
—Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 4 Apr. 2024
Verb
External Secrets Secrets are typically bucketed into two categories: external and internal.
—Alon Jackson, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023
So he's got to figure out how to bucket Trump, bracket Trump, and pull people off of Trump.
—Nbc Universal, NBC News, 5 Nov. 2023
When Holly’s seemingly psychic abilities save her from a fatal disaster at school, her status in the community shifts from outcast to otherworldly icon — as if Carrie White had actually been crowned prom queen, and not bucketed with blood.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 7 Sep. 2023
Top handles are too formal, totes too casual, and buckets too trendy.
—Charlotte Davey, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Aug. 2023
The Fever seemingly had control of the game throughout the first 10 minutes of the game, scoring at will and bucketing 26 points.
—Indystar Sports, The Indianapolis Star, 19 July 2023
Products are bucketed into 107 categories — from clothing to footwear to household linens — and further segmented by weight.
—Olivia Rockeman, Fortune, 30 May 2023
But that gorgeous swamp was bucketed out around the time of Sleep Well Beast.
—James Robins, Vulture, 1 May 2023
The only reason the Nittany Lions are still on the bubble is that Cam Wynter nailed two late-game miracle buckets to win back-to-back games.
—Tanner McGrath, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bucket.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near bucket
Cite this Entry
“Bucket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bucket. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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