I. ˈbəkə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French buket, from Old English būc pitcher, belly; akin to Old High German būh belly, Old Norse būkr trunk of the body, Latvian buga hornless cow, Sanskrit bhūri abundant — more at boast
1.
a. : a typically round and wooden vessel for drawing up water from a well
b. : any comparable vessel (as of wood, metal, or plastic) for catching, holding, or carrying liquids or solids : pail — often used in combination with a term suggesting the function
ice bucket
fire bucket
lunch bucket
2.
a. : a vessel (as a tub or scoop) for hoisting and conveying material (as coal, ore, grain, gravel, mud, or concrete)
b. : the dipper or scoop at the end of the arm of a bucket dredge
c. : one of the receptacles on the rim of a water wheel into which the water rushes causing the wheel to revolve
d. : a float or paddle of a waterwheel or of a boat's side wheel or stern wheel
e. : one of the containers of an endless-belt type of conveyor
f. : one of the vanes of a turbine rotor upon which the force of the steam or gas is exerted to cause rotation
g. : a frame covered with canvas that is sometimes used as a signal for boats
3. : the quantity that a bucket contains ; often : a very or unexpectedly large quantity
the rain came down in buckets
I could drink a bucket right now
4. : a leather socket for holding a whip, lance, or carbine
5. : a curved surface designed to deflect flowing water gradually and to prevent shock and erosion (as between the overflow face and apron of a dam)
6. slang : a means of conveyance (as an automobile) ; especially : a slow old ship — usually used disparagingly
7. slang : jail , prison
8. : a part of a basketball court keyhole bounded by the free-throw lane and the free-throw line
•
- in the bucket
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to draw or lift in or as if in buckets
bucketing water from the well
— often used with out or up
you can bucket out the slops before dark
2. Britain
a. : to ride (a horse) hard
b. : to drive (as a car) hurriedly or roughly
bucketed his car down the drive and pulled up … with a savage jerk — Ngaio Marsh
3. : to deal with (an order to buy or sell stocks) in or as if in a bucket shop
intransitive verb
1. : to drive or progress rapidly : hustle , hurry
the scow was bucketing through the heavy seas — Joyce Cary
they bucketed into their household chores
2. : to do a bucket-shop business
3.
a. : to move haphazardly without a well-defined objective or without restraint
you can't let such a valuable horse bucket about the pasture at his own good pleasure
hordes of people go bucketing all over the shop — G.F.T.Ryall
jaunty ladies who bucket around foreign parts — New Yorker
b. : to move roughly or jerkily
the jeep bucketed over the rocky road
as we jolted, jerked, bucketed along — Nancy Hale