A bucket is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated

cone In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the '' apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines ...

or square, with an open top and a flat bottom that is attached to a semicircular carrying

handle A handle is a part of, or an attachment to, an object that allows it to be grasped and object manipulation, manipulated by hand. The design of each type of handle involves substantial ergonomics, ergonomic issues, even where these are dealt wi ...

called the ''

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

''. A bucket is usually an open-top container. In contrast, a pail can have a top or lid and is a

shipping container A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated box design, corrugated b ...

. In non-technical usage, the two terms are often used interchangeably.

Types and uses

A number of bucket types exist, used for a variety of purposes. Though most of these are functional purposes, a number, including those constructed from precious metals, are used for ceremonial purposes. Common types of bucket and their adjoining purposes include: * Water buckets used to carry

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

* Household and garden buckets used for carrying liquids and granular products * Elaborate ceremonial or ritual buckets constructed of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

or other materials, found in several ancient or medieval cultures, sometimes known by the Latin for bucket, * Large scoops or buckets attached to loaders and telehandlers for landscaping agricultural and purposes * Canvas buckets made of woven fabric, developed as a fire-resistant alternative to leather * Crusher buckets attached to excavators used for crushing and recycling material in the construction industry * Buckets shaped like

castles A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This i ...

often used as children's toys to shape and carry sand on a

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

or in a

sandpit A sandpit (most Commonwealth countries) or sandbox (US and Canada) is a low, wide container or shallow depression filled with soft (beach) sand in which children can play. Sharp sand (as used in the building industry) is not suitable for su ...

* Buckets in special shapes such as cast iron buckets or smelting buckets to hold liquid metal at high temperatures Though not always bucket shaped,

lunch box A lunch box (or lunchbox) is a hand-held container used to transport food, usually to work or to school. It is commonly made of metal or plastic, is reasonably airtight and often has a handle for carrying. In the United States In the Unit ...

es are sometimes known as lunch pails or a lunch bucket. Buckets can be repurposed as seats, tool caddies, hydroponic gardens, chamber pots, "street" drums, or livestock feeders, amongst other uses. Buckets are also repurposed for the use of long term food storage by survivalists.

Shipping containers

When in reference to a

, the term "pail" is used as a technical term, specifically referring to a bucket shaped package with a sealed top or lid, which is then used as a transport container for chemicals and industrial products.

Gallery

File:Hemmoorer Eimer.jpg, Roman bronze from Germany, 2nd–3rd century Image:wooden_bucket.jpg, A wooden bucket File:Feuerlöscheimer 19 Jh.jpg, German 19th century leather firebuckets, a common type before the invention of many modern materials Image:Crusher bucket quarry.jpg, A crusher bucket Image:AFlex-Monsoon-Bucket.jpg, A canvas bucket being used as a helicopter bucket

English language phrases and idioms

The bucket has been used in many phrases and idioms in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

, some of which are regional or specific to the use of English in different English-speaking countries. * Kick the bucket: an informal term referring to someone's death * Drop the bucket on: to implicate a person in something (from Australian slang) * A drop in the bucket: a small, inadequate amount in relation to how much is requested or asked, taken from the

biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah ben Amo ...

, chapter 40, verse 15 * Bucket list: a list of activities an individual wishes to undertake before death

Unit of measurement

As an obsolete unit of measurement, at least one source documents a 'bucket' as being equivalent to .

References