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
bucketed; bucketing; buckets
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
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 downKathleen A. QuinnRain bucketed down for the next two days …—Thurston Clarke
Thurston ClarkeExamples 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
Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 6 Mar. 2025
The Scorpions’ last win came on a frantic finish that saw Jaylen Brantley sink the go-ahead bucket on one end and Elijah Brotherns make the game-saving block on the other.
—Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 6 Mar. 2025
Stockstory Team, CNBC, 4 Feb. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for bucket
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Noun
UConn erased its deficit in the first four minutes of the second half with buckets from Ball and Johnson.
—Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 6 Mar. 2025
The Scorpions’ last win came on a frantic finish that saw Jaylen Brantley sink the go-ahead bucket on one end and Elijah Brotherns make the game-saving block on the other.
—Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 6 Mar. 2025
Verb
The company’s product portfolio can be broadly bucketed into three categories.
—Stockstory Team, CNBC, 4 Feb. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for bucket
Cite this Entry
“Bucket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bucket. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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