buck·et (b?k??t)n.1. a. A cylindrical vessel used for holding or carrying liquids or solids; a pail.b. The amount that a bucket can hold: One bucket of paint will be enough for the ceiling.2. A unit of dry measure in the US Customary System equal to 2 pecks (17.6 liters).3. A receptacle on various machines, such as the scoop of a power shovel or the compartments on a water wheel, used to gather and convey material.4. Basketball A basket.v. buck·et·ed, buck·et·ing, buck·ets v.tr.1. To hold, carry, or put in a bucket: bucket up water from a well.2. To ride (a horse) long and hard.v.intr.1. To move or proceed rapidly and jerkily: bucketing over the unpaved lane.2. To make haste; hustle.Idiom: a drop in the bucket An insufficient or inconsequential amount in comparison with what is required.[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman buket, from Frankish *b?k, belly, hollow thing, from Proto-Germanic *b?kaz (also the source of German Bauch, belly), perhaps ultimately of imitative origin (suggesting the notion of inflation or distension).]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.bucket (?b?k?t) n1. an open-topped roughly cylindrical container; pail2. Also called: bucketful the amount a bucket will hold3. (Mechanical Engineering) any of various bucket-like parts of a machine, such as the scoop on a mechanical shovel4. (Mechanical Engineering) a cupped blade or bucket-like compartment on the outer circumference of a water wheel, paddle wheel, etc5. (Computer Science) computing a unit of storage on a direct-access device from which data can be retrieved6. (Mechanical Engineering) chiefly US a turbine rotor blade7. Austral and NZ an ice cream container8. kick the bucket slang to dievb, -kets, -keting or -keted9. (tr) to carry in or put into a bucket10. (often foll by: down) (of rain) to fall very heavily: it bucketed all day. 11. chiefly (often foll by: along) Brit to travel or drive fast12. (tr) chiefly Brit to ride (a horse) hard without consideration13. (tr) slang Austral to criticize severely[C13: from Anglo-French buket, from Old English b?c; compare Old High German b?h belly, German Bauch belly]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014buck?et (?b?k ?t) n. 1. a deep, cylindrical container, usu. of metal, plastic, or wood, with a flat bottom and a semicircular bail. 2. a. any of the scoops in certain types of conveyors or elevators. b. the scoop or clamshell of a steam or power shovel. c. a vane or blade of a waterwheel, paddle wheel, or the like. v.t. 3. to lift, carry, or handle in a bucket (often fol. by up or out). v.i. 4. Chiefly Brit. to move or drive fast. Idioms: 1. drop in the bucket, a small, inadequate amount. 2. kick the bucket, Slang. to die. [1250?1300; Middle English buket