bucket brigade

noun

: a chain of persons acting to put out a fire by passing buckets of water from hand to hand

Examples of bucket brigade in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In one instance in Pereira, CBS News cameras captured volunteers forming human bucket brigades, passing piece after piece of rubble by hand for hours. — CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026

Residents formed a bucket brigade, handing buckets of water to each other from the Detroit River to try to douse flames engulfing wooden buildings, but the city was leveled within hours. — USA Today, 27 May 2026

The fire department was little more than a bucket brigade. — Arkansas Online, 19 May 2026

That is what work looks like when it is deeply felt, when the audience’s concerns become ours, passed by bucket brigade from the subjects of our stories, to correspondence, to producers, to editors, fact checkers and writers. — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 3 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1859, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bucket brigade

• anterograde
• accolade
• ambuscade
• antegrade
• balustrade
• barricade
• cannonade
• cavalcade
• centigrade
• chambermaid
• colonnade
• countertrade

Kids Definition

bucket brigade

noun

: a chain of persons acting to put out a fire by passing buckets of water from hand to hand