Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A watertight cylindrical vessel, open at the top and fitted with a handle; a bucket.
  • noun The amount that a pail can hold.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A vessel of wood (staves) or sheet-metal (usually tin), nearly or quite cylindrical, with a hooped handle or bail, used for carrying water, milk, or other liquids.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A vessel of wood or tin, etc., usually cylindrical and having a bail, -- used esp. for carrying liquids, as water or milk, etc.; a bucket. It may, or may not, have a cover.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A vessel of wood, tin, plastic, etc., usually cylindrical and having a handle -- used especially for carrying liquids, for example water or milk; a bucket (sometimes with a cover).
  • noun A closed (covered) cylindrical shipping container.
  • noun A company of wasps.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a roughly cylindrical vessel that is open at the top
  • noun the quantity contained in a pail

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English paile, probably from Old French paele, warming pan, perhaps from Latin patella, small pan; see paella.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English payle 'wooden container', from Old English pæġel 'wine vessel, container for liquids, pail; liquid measure', from Proto-Germanic *pagilaz 'peg, rake' (compare Middle Dutch/Middle Low German pegel 'half pint', Danish pægl 'id.'), diminutive of *pag-. More at peg.

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Examples

  • For a while clip clip clip and the sound of grapes hitting the bottom of the pail is all that is heard.

    French Word-A-Day: 2009

  • For a while clip clip clip and the sound of grapes hitting the bottom of the pail is all that is heard.

    liaison - French Word-A-Day 2009

  • Joshi told us a charming story of Lovecraft hosting a coffee klatch for his fellow writers in New York and bringing the coffee in by the pail from the local deli.

    Archive 2009-10-01 2009

  • One robe each was kept, one ax, one tin pail, and a scant supply of bacon and flour.

    Chapter V 2010

  • Joshi told us a charming story of Lovecraft hosting a coffee klatch for his fellow writers in New York and bringing the coffee in by the pail from the local deli.

    Fear of the Unknown : The Lovecraft News Network 2009

  • Conan took a skin pail and brought water from the oasis so she could clean herself.

    Conan Fan Fiction! Cromsblood 2009

  • Water was carried by pail from the creek for cooking, washing, and doing dishes.

    Get Your Hunting Camp Featured in F&S! 2009

  • Conan took a skin pail and brought water from the oasis so she could clean herself.

    Archive 2009-12-01 Reis O'Brien 2009

  • Water was carried by pail from the creek for cooking, washing, and doing dishes.

    Get Your Hunting Camp Featured in F&S! 2009

  • While I sat there on an old tin pail which I had turned up for this purpose, two German officers came in, whistling.

    Three Times and Out: A Canadian Boy's Experience in Germany Nellie L. McClung 1918

  • Medieval Englishmen used bail and pail almost interchangeably, the former term perhaps emphasizing more ordered containment — which is why bailiffs kept order in castles and keep courts in order still, and mariners and attorneys bail out seawater and the arrested.

    How to Read the Land The MIT Press Reader 2022

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