Bucket

• buck‧et [countable]
• 1 an open container with a handle, used for carrying and holding things, especially liquids [= pail]
• 2 also bucketful the quantity of liquid that a bucket can hold
• bucket of
• a bucket of water
• 3 a part of a machine shaped like a large bucket and used for moving earth, water etc
• 4 informal a large amount of something:
• They were drinking beer by the bucket.
• bucket of
• They made buckets of cash on the deal.
• 5

   weep buckets

  informal to cry a lot
• 6

   in buckets

  informal if rain comes down in buckets, it is raining very hard

• ➔ kick the bucket

   at kick1 (20)

   

   kick the bucket

  old-fashioned to die - used humorously ; 

• ➔ a drop in the bucket

   atdrop2 (8) 

   a drop in the ocean

  British English, a drop in the bucket American English a very small amount of something compared to what is needed or wanted:
  5000 new schools are to be built, but this is just a drop in the ocean for such a vast country.

Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.