bucket: Meaning and Definition of

buck•et

Pronunciation: (buk'it), [key]
— n., v., -et•ed, -et•ing.
—n.
  1. a deep, cylindrical vessel, usually of metal, plastic, or wood, with a flat bottom and a semicircular bail, for collecting, carrying, or holding water, sand, fruit, etc.; pail.
  2. anything resembling or suggesting this.
    1. any of the scoops attached to or forming the endless chain in certain types of conveyors or elevators.
    2. the scoop or clamshell of a steam shovel, power shovel, or dredge.
    3. a vane or blade of a waterwheel, paddle wheel, water turbine, or the like.
  3. (in a dam) a concave surface at the foot of a spillway for deflecting the downward flow of water.
  4. a bucketful: a bucket of sand.
    1. Informal.Seefield goal.
    2. the part of the keyhole extending from the foul line to the end line.
  5. See
  6. a leave of the two, four, five, and eight pins, or the three, five, six, and nine pins. See illus. under
  7. a small, usually inadequate amount in relation to what is needed or requested: The grant for research was just a drop in the bucket.
  8. to implicate, incriminate, or expose.
  9. to die: His children were greedily waiting for him to kick the bucket.
—v.t.
  1. to lift, carry, or handle in a bucket (often fol. by up or out).
  2. to ride (a horse) fast and without concern for tiring it.
  3. to handle (orders, transactions, etc.) in or as if in a bucket shop.
—v.i.
  1. to move or drive fast; hurry.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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