What does ‘kick the bucket’ mean?
To “kick the bucket” means to die. Brewer's discusses two folk explanations: one from the beam ('bucket', in an old English sense) on which a slaughtered pig was hung, whose feet would kick, and another involving a person standing on a bucket before hanging themselves. Neither is proven, and the origin is best treated as uncertain.
Origin
- Brewer's discusses two folk explanations: one from the beam ('bucket', in an old English sense) on which a slaughtered pig was hung, whose feet would kick, and another involving a person standing on a bucket before hanging themselves. Neither is proven, and the origin is best treated as uncertain.
How to use it
- Slangy, mildly disrespectful.
- Example: The old lawnmower finally kicked the bucket.
Source:
Last verified: 2026-07-18
- Definitions and origins are drawn from public-domain reference works, primarily Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), with modern usage notes clearly marked.