< Back to Phrase of the Day

Kick the Bucket


You use the phrase 'Kick the Bucket' to indicate that someone has died.

Example of use: “Every one of us will kick the bucket someday.”


Interesting fact about Kick the Bucket

The term 'kick the bucket' originated in the 16th century. The wooden frame used to hang animals by their feet for slaughter was called a bucket. As the animals struggled and spasmed, they were said to “kick the bucket.” The term gained broader definition when it was defined in Grose’s 1785 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: “To kick the bucket, to die.”