Abucket is typically a watertight, vertical cylinderortruncated cone or square, with an open top and a flat bottom, attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the bail.[1][2]
A bucket is usually an open-top container. In contrast, a pail can have a top or lid and is a shipping container. In non-technical usage, the two terms are often used interchangeably.
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:
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.[3]
When in reference to a shipping container, 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.[4]
The bucket has been used in many phrases and idioms in the English language,[5] some of which are regional or specific to the use of English in different English-speaking countries.
As an obsolete unit of measurement, at least one source documents a 'bucket' as being equivalent to 4 imperial gallons (18 L; 4.8 US gal).[6]
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