/buk"it/ , n. , v. , bucketed, bucketing .
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.
3. Mach.
a. any of the scoops attached to or forming the endless chain in certain types of conveyors or elevators.
b. the scoop or clamshell of a steam shovel, power shovel, or dredge.
c. a vane or blade of a waterwheel, paddle wheel, water turbine, or the like.
4. (in a dam) a concave surface at the foot of a spillway for deflecting the downward flow of water.
5. a bucketful: a bucket of sand.
6. Basketball.
a. Informal. See field goal .
b. the part of the keyhole extending from the foul line to the end line.
7. See bucket seat .
8. Bowling. a leave of the two, four, five, and eight pins, or the three, five, six, and nine pins. See illus. under bowling .
9. drop in the bucket , a small, usually inadequate amount in relation to what is needed or requested: The grant for research was just a drop in the bucket.
10. drop the bucket on , Australian Slang. to implicate, incriminate, or expose.
11. kick the bucket , Slang. to die: His children were greedily waiting for him to kick the bucket.
v.t.
12. to lift, carry, or handle in a bucket (often fol. by up or out ).
13. Chiefly Brit. to ride (a horse) fast and without concern for tiring it.
14. to handle (orders, transactions, etc.) in or as if in a bucket shop.
v.i.
15. Informal. to move or drive fast; hurry.
[ 1250-1300; ME buket bucc (var. of buc vessel, belly; c. G Bauch ) + OF -et -ET ]
Regional Variation . Though both BUCKET and PAIL are used throughout the entire U.S., PAIL has its greatest use in the Northern U.S., and BUCKET is more commonly used elsewhere, esp. in the Midland and Southern U.S.