drop in the bucket

Idioms and Phrases

A very small quantity, especially one that is too small. For example, These contributions are just a drop in the bucket; the new church wing will cost thousands more . John Wycliffe's followers used this seemingly modern phrase in their translation of the Bible (1382), and it also appears in the 1611 King James version (Isaiah 40:15): “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance.”

Example Sentences

But when it comes to reining in California’s sprawling black market, experts say it’s just a drop in the bucket.

From Los Angeles Times

The money the party has moved into Texas so far, he noted, is just a “drop in the bucket” in such a large state.

From BBC

John Paul Coonrod, the store's board president and chair, said he told Canty during her visit that the state's initiative amounted to a "drop in the bucket" for what small grocers need to survive.

From Salon

“It’s a drop in the bucket,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s a drop in the bucket for a former president who has already been fined hundreds of millions of dollars by the New York Attorney General’s Office for fraud.

From BBC

Related Words

• bit
• trivial amount