A bucket is typically a watertight, vertical

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infi ...

or truncated

cone A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines co ...

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

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

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. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

''. A bucket is usually an open-top container. In contrast, a

pail A bucket is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone or square, with an open top and a flat bottom, attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the ''bail''. A bucket is usually an open-top container. In contrast, ...

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 boxes. In the context o ...

. In common 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 (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

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

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and 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 mammals ...

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

telehandler A telescopic handler, also called a lull, telehandler, teleporter, reach forklift, or zoom boom, is a machine widely used in agriculture and industry. It is somewhat like a forklift but has a boom ( telescopic cylinder), making it more a c ...

s for landscaping agricultural and purposes * 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 debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

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, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

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 s ...

* 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 boxes 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 Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, as well as other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, civil disord ...

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; the most common material used for buckets, alongside wood, before the invention of many modern materials was leather Image:Man carrying two buckets.JPG, A man carrying two buckets Image:Heinrich Zille Wasserträgerin.jpg, A young lady carrying a bucket, drawing by German artist Image:Janitor's bucket with mop.jpg, A mop bucket with a wringer Image:Excavator bucket.JPG, An

excavator bucket A bucket (also called a scoop to qualify shallower designs of tools) is a specialized container attached to a machine, as compared to a bucket adapted for manual use by a human being. It is a bulk material handling component. The bucket has an i ...

Image:Crusher bucket quarry.jpg, A crusher bucket Image:AFlex-Monsoon-Bucket.jpg, A

helicopter bucket A helicopter bucket is a specialised bucket suspended on a cable carried by a helicopter to deliver water for aerial firefighting. Each bucket has a release valve on the bottom which is controlled by the helicopter crew. When the helicopter is i ...

File:Balde.PNG, A plastic yellow bucket File:A metal bucket.jpg, A metal 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 of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to t ...

, some of which are regional or specific to the use of English in different English-speaking countries. *

Kick the bucket To kick the bucket is an English idiom considered a euphemistic, informal, or slang term meaning "to die". Its origin remains unclear, though there have been several theories. Origin theories A common theory is that the idiom refers to hanging, ei ...

: 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 (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

Book of Isaiah, 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

External links

"Five-gallon farm collectibles" by Jennifer M. Latzke

"Uses for Five Gallon Buckets

* {{Authority control Containers Food packaging Domestic implements