pail
Americannoun
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a bucket, esp one made of wood or metal
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Also called: pailful. the quantity that fills a pail
Regionalisms
See bucket.
Etymology
Origin of pail
First recorded before 1000; Middle English payle “wooden container,” continuing Old English pægel “wine container, liquid measure” (of unknown origin; compare Middle Dutch, Low German pegel “half pint”), by association with Old French paielle “pan,” from Latin patella; patella
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Unfortunately, the children had learned the words according to the way they sounded, rather than what they actually meant, so that “All hail to our founder” became “A pail full of flounder” and so on.
From Literature
“The most elemental device is a metal pail with a tight cover.”
From Literature
The coach handed out metal lunch pails and blue-collar work shirts customized with embroidered name tags to symbolize the team’s hard-working mentality.
From Los Angeles Times
Suddenly, she’s brandishing a mop and pail everywhere like a rootless knight without a quest or a horse.
From Los Angeles Times
Our toddler’s diaper pail in the hollow of a crawl space mixed with the remnants of the dining room.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
