bucket

/ˈbʌk.ɪt/

//ˈbʌk.ɪt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bucket" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bucket” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,338 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#6,338
frequency rank, English
6
letters
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A container made of rigid material, often with a handle, used to carry liquids or small items.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bucket vs Bucks
50% similar
bucket vs burke
67% similar
bucket vs bucky
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bucket
PropertyValue
Headwordbucket
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbʌk.ɪt/
Letters6
Frequency rank#6,338
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “bucket” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). bucket lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for bucket is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbʌk.ɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,338 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 17 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for bucket, with forms such as "bbucket", "bcuket", and "buccket". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Bucks", "burke", "bucky", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English buket, boket, partly from Old English bucc ("bucket, pitcher"; mod. dialectal buck), equivalent to bouk + -et; and partly from Anglo-Norman buket, buquet (“tub; pail”) (compare Norman boutchet, Norman bouquet), diminutive of Old French b… The correct English form is bucket, spelled B-U-C-K-E-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A container made of rigid material, often with a handle, used to carry liquids or small items.
  2. 2
    The amount held in this container.
  3. 3
    A large amount of liquid.
  4. 4
    A great deal of anything.
  5. 5
    A unit of measure equal to four gallons.
  6. 6
    Part of a piece of machinery that resembles a bucket (container).
  7. 7
    Someone who habitually uses crack cocaine.
  8. 8
    An old vehicle that is not in good working order.
  9. 9
    The basket.
  10. 10
    A field goal.
  11. 11
    A mechanism for avoiding the allocation of targets in cases of mismanagement.
  12. 12
    A storage space in a hash table for every item sharing a particular key.
  13. 13
    A turbine blade driven by hot gas or steam.
  14. 14
    A bucket bag.
  15. 15
    The leather socket for holding the whip when driving, or for the carbine or lance when mounted.
  16. 16
    The pitcher in certain orchids.
  17. 17
    A helmet.

Etymology

From Middle English buket, boket, partly from Old English bucc ("bucket, pitcher"; mod. dialectal buck), equivalent to bouk + -et; and partly from Anglo-Norman buket, buquet (“tub; pail”) (compare Norman boutchet, Norman bouquet), diminutive of Old French buc (“abdomen; object with a cavity”), from Vulgar Latin *būcus (compare Occitan and Catalan buc, Italian buco, buca (“hole, gap”)), from Frankish *būk (“belly, stomach”). Both the Old English and Frankish terms derive from Proto-Germanic *būkaz (“belly, stomach”). More at bouk.

This word in other languages

balde(Español)seau(Français)Eimer(Deutsch)balde(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bbucket,bcuket,buccket,bucekt,buckett,buckket,buckte,bukcet,ubcket

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bucket - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

bbucket1bcuket2buccket1bucekt2buckett1buckket1buckte2bukcet2
Edit distance from "bucket"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bucket"?
"bucket" is spelled B-U-C-K-E-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbʌk.ɪt/.
What does "bucket" mean?
As a noun, "bucket" means: A container made of rigid material, often with a handle, used to carry liquids or small items.
What words are commonly confused with "bucket"?
"bucket" is commonly confused with "Bucks", "burke", "bucky". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bucket"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bucket" is /ˈbʌk.ɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "bucket"?
From Middle English buket, boket, partly from Old English bucc ("bucket, pitcher"; mod. dialectal buck), equivalent to bouk + -et; and partly from Anglo-Norman buket, buquet (“tub; pail”) (compare Norman boutchet, Norman bouquet), diminutive of Ol... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “bucket”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-U-C-K-E-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈbʌk.ɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “Bucks” - see the side-by-side comparison. bucket vs Bucks
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list