bucket

1 of 2

noun

buck·​et ˈbə-kət How to pronounce bucket (audio)
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

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
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

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
One balanced chunks of concrete in its metal bucket, and a reporter remarked that encampment residents had surely not been the ones to pour that cement. Blake Nelson, The Mercury News, 12 Nov. 2024 In her bucket of fries is a scroll telling her that a hidden immunity idol is sewn into the corner of the tarp in the middle of the camp. Brian Moylan, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2024
Verb
This is on vivid display in the chart below, which takes all the simulations from our model and buckets them by popular vote outcome. G. Elliott Morris, ABC News, 30 Oct. 2024 Samsung has a sizing guide consistent with other fitness tracker rings as I was bucketed into my usual size 8. Adrienne So, WIRED, 18 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for bucket 

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of bucket was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near bucket

Cite this Entry

“Bucket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bucket. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

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

More from Merriam-Webster on bucket

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