What does "bucket" mean?
A container made of rigid material, often with a handle, used to carry liquids or small items.
Bucket
/ˈbʌk.ɪt/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A container made of rigid material, often with a handle, used to carry liquids or small items.
- Grammar: bucket is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: pail, argosy, bail, bands.
- Useful contrasts: clear skies, disaggregate, dry weather.
- Usage evidence: Always keep a bucket of water handy, in case of fire.
How to use "bucket"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "bucket" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "bucket" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "bucket" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "bucket" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "bucket" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "pail" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "bucket", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A container made of rigid material, often with a handle, used to carry liquids or small items.
"I need a bucket to carry the water from the well."
- 2 a roughly cylindrical vessel that is open at the top wordnet
- 3 The amount held in this container.
"The horse drank a whole bucket of water."
- 4 the quantity contained in a bucket wordnet
- 5 A large amount of liquid. in-plural, informal
"It rained buckets yesterday."
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 A great deal of anything. in-plural, informal
"My new suit cost me buckets."
- 7 A unit of measure equal to four gallons. UK, archaic
- 8 Part of a piece of machinery that resembles a bucket (container).
- 9 Someone who habitually uses crack cocaine. derogatory, slang
- 10 An old vehicle that is not in good working order. slang
- 11 The basket. informal
"The forward drove to the bucket."
- 12 A field goal. informal
"We can't keep giving up easy buckets."
- 13 A mechanism for avoiding the allocation of targets in cases of mismanagement.
- 14 A storage space in a hash table for every item sharing a particular key.
- 15 A turbine blade driven by hot gas or steam. uncommon
- 16 A bucket bag.
"Avoid bulky styles such as duffle sacks, buckets, doctors' satchels, and hobos."
- 17 The leather socket for holding the whip when driving, or for the carbine or lance when mounted.
- 18 The pitcher in certain orchids.
- 19 A helmet. humorous, slang
Verb
- 1 To place inside a bucket. transitive
- 2 carry in a bucket wordnet
- 3 To draw or lift in, or as if in, buckets. transitive
"to bucket water"
- 4 put into a bucket wordnet
- 5 To rain heavily. informal, intransitive
"It’s really bucketing down out there."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 To travel very quickly. informal, intransitive
"The boat is bucketing along."
- 7 To ride (a horse) hard or mercilessly. transitive
- 8 To criticize vehemently; to denigrate. Australia, slang, transitive
- 9 To categorize (data) by splitting it into buckets, or groups of related items. transitive
"These candidates are then bucketed into a discretized version of the space of all possible lines."
- 10 To make, or cause to make (the recovery), with a certain hurried or unskillful forward swing of the body. UK, US, transitive
Proper Noun
- 1 Nickname for Pawtucket: a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States.
"‘You really think the Bucket's a shithole, Mousy?’ ’[They should] put a toilet seat on top of this place.’"
Antonyms
Example
"Always keep a bucket of water handy, in case of fire."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "bucket"?
Common synonyms include: pail, argosy, bail, bands, bark, barrel.
How do you use "bucket" in a sentence?
Always keep a bucket of water handy, in case of fire.
How do you pronounce "bucket"?
Pronounced /ˈbʌk.ɪt/.
Etymology
From Middle English buket, boket, partly from Old English bucc ("bucket, pitcher"; mod. dialectal buck), equivalent to bouk + -et; and partly from Anglo-Norman buket, buquet (“tub; pail”) (compare Norman boutchet, Norman bouquet), diminutive of Old French buc (“abdomen; object with a cavity”), from Vulgar Latin *būcus (compare Occitan and Catalan buc, Italian buco, buca (“hole, gap”)), from Frankish *būk (“belly, stomach”). Both the Old English and Frankish terms derive from Proto-Germanic *būkaz (“belly, stomach”). More at bouk.