bucket

noun buck·et \ ˈbə-kət \

|Updated on: 22 Jun 2018

Examples: bucket in a Sentence

Definition of bucket

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 : bucketful

4 : bucket seat

5 : basket 3b

See bucket defined for English-language learners

See bucket defined for kids

Examples of bucket in a Sentence

We used two buckets of paint to paint the living room.
made buckets of money in the stock market

Recent Examples of bucket from the Web

The truck was used to rescue the remaining riders — with crews pulling riders into the bucket and then guiding them down the ladder.

— jeff weiner, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Roller coaster derails in Daytona Beach, six injured in accident," 15 June 2018
Old spinning rods and reels are there too, along with minnow buckets and vintage plastic lures.

— john goodspeed, San Antonio Express-News, "German hunting, fishing museum spans history back to the stone age," 14 June 2018
Hudson Park Hudson park's splash pad has water rings, dump buckets and water cannons.

— azcentral, "45 Phoenix area splash pads, parks and water features," 14 June 2018
For water, the children walked about a mile across hilly terrain to a river, loaded buckets and returned home.

— don norcross, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Ethiopia's queen of the 5,000 has sights set on a marathon," 1 June 2018
At the gate, workers issued us a plastic bucket and inside, Didi and Gege ran at full speed between the rows, where the cherries hung low and heavy.

— vanessa hua, San Francisco Chronicle, "Small talk for first-graders that’s based on real life," 30 May 2018
At one point, a custodian — not in the cast — wheeled a noisy bucket and mop through the action, causing the director to stop the scene.

— helene stapinski, New York Times, "A View From the Barge," 16 May 2018
Two hours after her first post, DeAnn Haase shared a video of Carnival's crew trying to gather up water from the hallway in buckets and bins, assembly-line style.

— howard cohen, miamiherald, "'Say a prayer for us all.' Carnival passenger shares her nightmare as water floods deck," 5 May 2018
Regularly empty or throw out items that hold standing water, like planters, buckets, and toys, both inside and outside your home.

— emma sarran webster, Allure, "What You Should Know About the Rise of Insect-Spread Diseases," 3 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bucket.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of bucket

Middle English, from Anglo-French buket, from Old English būc pitcher, belly; akin to Old High German būh belly

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First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

bucket Synonyms

Phrases

all kinds (of), quite a bit;

Other Civil Engineering Terms

asphalt, ballast, barrage, cantilever, infrastructure, sluice

bucket

verb

Definition of bucket

bucketed; bucketing; buckets

transitive verb

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

intransitive verb

1 : hustle, hurry

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 down

Rain bucketed down for the next two days … .
—Thurston Clarke

See bucket defined for English-language learners

Examples of bucket in a Sentence

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 of bucket from the Web

But in a storm of Harvey's sheer monstrousness – hundreds of miles across, lingering for days with bucketing rain that swallowed roads and initially kept rescue aircraft grounded – no government response could ever have been enough.

— author: kevin sullivan, peter holley, Alaska Dispatch News, "Texans’ do-it-ourselves rescue effort defines Hurricane Harvey," 3 Sep. 2017
But in a storm of Harvey’s sheer monstrousness — hundreds of miles across, lingering for days with bucketing rain that swallowed roads and initially kept rescue aircraft grounded — no government response could ever have been enough.

— kevin sullivan, Washington Post, "Texans’ do-it-ourselves rescue effort defines Hurricane Harvey," 2 Sep. 2017

First Known Use of bucket

1640

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

bucket Synonyms

Synonyms

dip, lade, ladle, scoop, spoon;

Near Antonyms

pour;

fill;

Related Words

bail;

deplete, drain, eliminate, empty, exhaust;

bleed, draw (off);

dish;

slop;

decant, draw, pump, siphon (also syphon), suction;

BUCKET Defined for English Language Learners

bucket

noun

Definition of bucket for English Language Learners

: an open container with a handle that is used especially to hold and carry water and other liquids
: the amount contained in a bucket
: a large container that is part of a machine (such as a tractor) and that is used for digging or carrying dirt, rocks, and other material