pail

[ peyl ]
See synonyms for pail on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the amount filling a pail.

Origin of pail

1
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; see patella

regional variation note For pail

1. See bucket.

Words that may be confused with pail

Words Nearby pail

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pail in a sentence

  • At the farm-gate they met Dorothy, fresh and blooming as a rose, with a pail in each hand foaming to the brim with milk.

    The World Before Them | Susanna Moodie
  • She kicked at Jehosophat and over went the pail of milk which his father had almost full.

    Seven O'Clock Stories | Robert Gordon Anderson
  • Sometimes a milk-pail is represented near a lamb, or hanging on a crook by its side, or even resting on its back.

    The Catacombs of Rome | William Henry Withrow
  • He listened carefully before, standing outside in the cold, he poured over his head and shoulders a pail of cold water.

    The Amazing Interlude | Mary Roberts Rinehart
  • The root thus broken up is rubbed about in a great pail, with water slowly added.

British Dictionary definitions for pail

pail

/ (peɪl) /


noun
  1. a bucket, esp one made of wood or metal

  2. Also called: pailful the quantity that fills a pail

Origin of pail

1
Old English pægel; compare Catalan paella frying pan, paella

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012