bucket

1 of 2

noun

buck·​et ˈbə-kət 

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 sense 3b

bucket

2 of 2

verb

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

Synonyms of bucket

Noun

• loads
• ton
• chunk
• dozen
• pile
• plenty
• deal
• raft
• slew
• bunch
• quantity
• wealth
• stack
• lot
• bundle

Verb

• scoop
• spoon

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 Web

Noun

From a dessert chicken bucket in the Bronx to a $2 hot dog in Atlanta, here is what the current rankings and regional favorites say. — Lauren Schuster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 July 2026

Travel may be getting more expensive, but that isn’t stopping Americans from splurging on bucket-list vacations. — Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 15 July 2026

Verb

Moving From Audience Segments To Individual Context Traditional healthcare marketing ran on segmentation—physicians bucketed by specialty, geography, prescribing patterns. — Kamya Elawadhi, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026

Similarly revealing is our chances created grid, bucketing the start locations of every pass that has led directly to a goalscoring opportunity for a team-mate. — Thom Harris, New York Times, 10 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

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

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1640, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing bucket

• bucket brigade
• bucket down
• bucket hat
• bucket list
• bucket loader
• bucket seat
• bucket shop
• drop in the bucket
• kick the bucket
• lunch-bucket
• rust bucket

Kids Definition

bucket

noun

buck·​et

ˈbək-ət

1

: a usually round container for catching, holding, or carrying liquids or solids : pail

2

: an object for collecting, scooping, or carrying something

3

: bucketful