Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

1

bucket

play
noun buck·et \ˈbə-kət\

Definition of bucket

  1. 1 :  a typically cylindrical vessel for catching, holding, or carrying liquids or solids

  2. 2 :  something resembling a bucket: such asa :  the scoop of an excavating machineb :  one of the receptacles on the rim of a waterwheelc :  one of the cups of an endless-belt conveyord :  one of the vanes of a turbine rotor

  3. 3 :  bucketful

  4. 4 :  bucket seat

  5. 5 :  basket 3b

See bucket defined for English-language learners

See bucket defined for kids

Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
alt-597233d35a146
Trending: 'Scaramouch,' Scaramucci Possibly to Fandango
emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz
alt-59721dd897313
The 'Best' Way to Sign Off On An E-mail

Examples of bucket in a Sentence

  1. We used two buckets of paint to paint the living room.

  2. made buckets of money in the stock market

Origin and Etymology of bucket

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

bucket Synonyms

Synonyms
abundance, barrel, basketful, boatload, lot, bunch, bundle, bushel, carload, chunk, deal, dozen, fistful, gobs, good deal, heap, hundred, lashings (also lashins) [chiefly British], loads, 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
Antonyms
ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful, hint, lick, little, mite, mouthful, nip, ounce, peanuts, pinch, pittance, scruple, shade, shadow, smidgen (also smidgeon or smidgin or smidge), speck, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, taste, touch, trace
Related Words
epidemic, plague, rash; bonanza, embarrassment, excess, overabundance, overage, overkill, overmuch, oversupply, plethora, redundancy, superabundance, superfluity, surfeit, surplus; deluge, flood, overflow; army, bevy, cram, crowd, crush, drove, flock, herd, horde, host, legion, mob, multitude, press, score, sea, swarm, throng; gazillion, jillion, kazillion, million, thousands, trillion, zillion
Near Antonyms
atom, crumb, dot, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, grain, granule, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, mote, nubbin, particle, ray, scintilla, scrap, shred, tittle, whit; smatter, smattering; dash, drop, morsel, shot; piece, portion, section; absence, dearth, famine, lack, paucity, poverty, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want; deficiency, deficit, inadequacy, insufficiency, meagerness, scantiness, scantness, skimpiness

Other Civil Engineering Terms

asphalt, ballast, barrage, cantilever, infrastructure, sluice

2

bucket

verb buck·et

Definition of bucket

  1. transitive verb

  2. 1 :  to draw or lift in buckets

  3. 2 British a :  to ride (a horse) hardb :  to drive hurriedly or roughly

  4. 3 :  to deal with in a bucket shop

  5. intransitive verb

  6. 1 :  hustle, hurry

  7. 2a :  to move about haphazardly or irresponsiblyb :  to move roughly or jerkily

See bucket defined for English-language learners

Examples of bucket in a Sentence

  1. bucketing water from the well, we raced to put out the fire

  2. getting the troops into the bucketing landing craft proved to be challenging

First Known Use of bucket

1640

bucket Synonyms

Synonyms
dip, lade, ladle, scoop, spoon
Related Words
bail; deplete, drain, eliminate, empty, exhaust; bleed, draw (off); dish; slop; decant, draw, pump, siphon (also syphon), suction
Near Antonyms
pour; fill

Phrases Related to BUCKET

Related Phrases

BUCKET Defined for English Language Learners

bucket

play
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

BUCKET Defined for Kids

bucket

play
noun buck·et \ˈbə-kət\

Definition of bucket for Students

  1. 1 :  a usually round container with a handle for holding or carrying liquids or solids

  2. 2 :  a large container that is part of a machine and is used for collecting, scooping, or carrying

  3. 3 :  bucketful a bucket of water sweating buckets

Learn More about bucket

  1. See words that rhyme with bucket Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for bucket Spanish Central: Translation of bucket Nglish: Translation of bucket for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of bucket for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up bucket? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

advise

play

to counsel, recommend, or inform

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. scaramouch A new White House communications director

  2. non sequitur “It does not follow”

  3. admiral's mast A massive search ends with an 'admiral's mast'.

  4. calumny 'An untrue statement that is made to damage someone's reputation'

  5. kakistocracy Frustrated Twitter users have been searching for this word.

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

bucket

Test Your Vocabulary

The Emoji Quiz

  • emoji-the-quiz
  • What phase of the moon is this: 🌖 ?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-59721dd897313
The 'Best' Way to Sign Off On An E-mail

Give them your best

image386126722
Words and Phrases That Come from the Dinner Table

Fill your plate with these surprising food words

ghost-being-disinvited-from-party
'Disinvite' or 'Uninvite'?

A disinvited guest is an uninvited problem

alt-596f730ceb5ae
Words We're Watching: 'Scoby'

Kombucha lovers unite.

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

Take the quiz
image941935269
A Game of Thrones Word Quiz

In the Game of Thrones quiz, you learn some new vocabulary. (It’s quite safe, really. You will not die.)

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!

Play the game
Examples: bucket in a Sentence