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bucket

n. · v.
US //ˈbəkət// UK //bˈʌkɪt// buck·et
  1. 1 a container (n.)
    A1 Beginner

    a round container with a handle, used for carrying liquids or sand.

    a cylindrical or slightly conical vessel with a handle, typically used for transporting liquids or granular solids.

    Example

    The children filled their plastic bucket with seawater to build a sandcastle.

    Example

    The janitor left a bucket of soapy water in the hallway, nearly causing a safety hazard for the office staff.
    • pail
  2. 2 a large amount (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    a very large amount of liquid or another substance.

    an informal quantifier denoting a significant volume, often used in the plural for emphasis.

    Example

    It was so hot during the race that he was sweating buckets by the finish line.

    Example

    The charity received buckets of donations after the local news featured the family's difficult situation.
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  1. 3 machinery part (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Technical

    the part of a large machine, like a digger, that picks up dirt.

    a scoop-shaped component of an excavating machine or conveyor system designed for material handling.

    Example

    The excavator's bucket was large enough to move a ton of earth in one go.

    Example

    The operator carefully tilted the bucket to release the gravel into the waiting truck without damaging the vehicle's frame.
  2. 4 basketball goal (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal American English Sport

    a successful shot that goes through the hoop in basketball.

    an informal term for a successful field goal or the basket itself in basketball.

    Example

    He made a spectacular bucket right at the buzzer to win the game.

    Example

    The rookie struggled to find his rhythm early on, missing several easy buckets before finally scoring in the second quarter.
  3. 5 data storage (n.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Computing

    a place to store a specific group of data in a computer system.

    a logical storage unit or category used to group related data points, particularly in hash tables or cloud storage.

    Example

    The software organizes the files into different buckets based on when they were created.

    Example

    The cloud architect configured a new storage bucket with strict permissions to ensure that sensitive user data remained encrypted and private.
  4. 6 to rain heavily (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal British English

    to rain very hard.

    to rain with high intensity; almost exclusively used in the progressive form with 'down'.

    Example

    We couldn't go for our walk because it was bucketing down outside.

    Example

    The match was eventually abandoned because it had been bucketing down for three hours, leaving the pitch completely waterlogged.
  5. 7 to group data (v.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Academic

    to put information into different groups or categories.

    to categorize or partition data into discrete sets for analysis or storage.

    Example

    We need to bucket these customers by their age and spending habits.

    Example

    The researchers decided to bucket the survey responses into four distinct demographic groups to simplify the statistical modeling process.
Origin

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.

Idioms14 entries

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