¦ noun
1. a cylindrical open container with a handle, used to carry liquids.
a compartment on the outer edge of a waterwheel.
the scoop of a dredger or grain elevator, or one attached to the front of a digger or tractor.
2. (buckets) informal large quantities of liquid.
¦ verb (buckets, bucketing, bucketed) informal
1. (bucket down) Brit. rain heavily.
2. (of a vehicle) move quickly and jerkily.
Derivatives
bucketful noun (plural bucketfuls).
Origin
ME: from Anglo-Norman Fr. buquet 'tub, pail', perh. from OE bu?c 'belly, pitcher'.