kick the bucket
/ˈkɪk ðə ˈbʌkɪt/
"kick-the-bucket" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“kick the bucket” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To die.
Corpus desk
Index EN-kick-the-bucket · kick the bucket · English
kick the bucket · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 15 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "K" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | kick the bucket |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈkɪk ðə ˈbʌkɪt/ |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “kick the bucket” in English
Rare enough to double-check
kick the bucket is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈkɪk ðə ˈbʌkɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for kick the bucket, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: There are many theories as to where this idiom comes from, but the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) suggests the following: * A person standing on a pail or bucket with their head in a slip noose would kick the bucket so as to commit suicide. The OED, howeve… The correct English form is kick the bucket, spelled K-I-C-K- -T-H-E- -B-U-C-K-E-T.
Definition
- 1To die.
- 2To break down such that it cannot be repaired.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how kick the bucket appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The old horse finally kicked the bucket.
My posthumous book Allegorizings, which will go to press in London and New York the minute I kick the bucket, is loosely governed by my growing conviction that almost nothing in life is only what it seems. It contains nothing revelatory at all.
Etymology
There are many theories as to where this idiom comes from, but the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) suggests the following: * A person standing on a pail or bucket with their head in a slip noose would kick the bucket so as to commit suicide. The OED, however, says that this is mainly speculative; * An archaic use of bucket was a beam from which a pig is hung by its feet prior to being slaughtered, and to kick the bucket originally signified the pig's death throes. The OED finds this a more plausible theory. Another theory is given by Roman Catholic Bishop Abbot Horne.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.