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Definition of bucket noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

bucket

noun
 
/ˈbʌkɪt/
 
/ˈbʌkɪt/
 Idioms
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  1. [countable] an open container with a handle, used for carrying or holding liquids, sand, etc. synonym pail
    • a plastic bucket
    • (British English) They were playing on the beach with their buckets and spades.
    Extra Examples
    • The cleaner put down his mop and bucket and sat down.
    • The sand had spilt from the fire bucket.
    • a slop bucket full of scraps of food
    Topics Houses and homesc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • empty
    • full
    • galvanized
    • …
    verb + bucket
    • fill
    • carry
    • dump
    • …
    bucket + verb
    • be full of something
    • contain something
    • hold something
    • …
    preposition
    • in a/​the bucket
    • bucket of
    phrases
    • a bucket and spade
    • mop and bucket
    See full entry
  2. [countable] a large container that is part of a crane or digger and is used for lifting things
  3. (also bucketful
     
    /ˈbʌkɪtfʊl/
     
    /ˈbʌkɪtfʊl/
    )
     [countable] the amount contained in a bucket
    • two buckets/bucketfuls of water
    • by the bucket/bucketful They used to drink tea by the bucketful (= in large quantities).
    Extra Examples
    • She poured the bucket of dirty water down the drain.
    • a bucket of oats for the horses
    • big buckets of popcorn and Coke
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • empty
    • full
    • galvanized
    • …
    verb + bucket
    • fill
    • carry
    • dump
    • …
    bucket + verb
    • be full of something
    • contain something
    • hold something
    • …
    preposition
    • in a/​the bucket
    • bucket of
    phrases
    • a bucket and spade
    • mop and bucket
    See full entry
  4. buckets
     [plural] (informal) a large amount
    • To succeed in show business, you need buckets of confidence.
    • We wept buckets.
    • He was sweating buckets by the end of the race.
    • The rain was coming down in buckets (= it was raining very heavily).
    5. Word OriginMiddle English: from Anglo-Norman French buquet ‘tub, pail’, perhaps from Old English būc ‘belly, pitcher’.
Idioms
a drop in the bucket (North American English)
(British English a drop in the ocean)
  1. an amount of something that is too small or unimportant to make any real difference to a situation
    • The amount of money raised was a drop in the bucket compared to what we needed.
kick the bucket
  1. (informal or humorous) to die
See bucket in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
Check pronunciation: bucket

Nearby words

trait
noun
 
 
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