# bucket down

CEFR B2 · Phrasal verb

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/bucket-down
Updated: 2026-10-22

## Definition

to rain very heavily. You use this when it is raining so hard that it feels like someone is pouring buckets of water from the sky.

For teachers: to rain heavily and persistently. This phrasal verb is intransitive and typically occurs with the dummy subject 'it'.

## Examples

- It is bucketing down outside, so take an umbrella.
- We wanted to go for a walk, but it started to bucket down just as we reached the park.
- The match was eventually abandoned after it began to bucket down, leaving the pitch completely waterlogged and unplayable.

## Pitfalls

- Not "It is bucketing down the rain." but "It is bucketing down." — The verb is intransitive and does not take 'rain' as a direct object.

## Usage notes

- This phrase is almost always used with 'it' as the subject.
- Teaching tip: Contrast with 'rain cats and dogs', which is a well-known idiom but much less common in natural modern speech than 'bucket down'.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.