pail
gb/pˈeɪl/ us/pˈeɪl/
B1
English
~ 9600
Senses
0 senses
Noun
B1
entity
1
round container with a handle
A round container with a handle that you use to carry things like water, sand, or trash.
Usage pattern:
[someone] carries [something] in a pail
Common mistake:
Learners often confuse "pail" with "pale" (the adjective meaning "light in color" or "not strong"). They may also not realize that in modern English, especially in everyday speech, "bucket" is more common than "pail", and the two words are usually interchangeable when talking about this kind of container.
Synonyms
bucket (More common in everyday English; often interchangeable, though 'bucket' sounds slightly more modern and general than 'pail'.)
|
container (More general; not limited to round shapes or to having a handle.)
Collocations
water pail
|trash pail
|sand pail
|milk pail
|slop pail
|a pail of water
Themes
daily life
|home
|tools
|daily_life
|core_vocabulary
Examples
- She filled the pail with water from the well.
- The child carried a bright red sand pail down to the beach.
- He knocked over the pail and muddy water spilled across the floor.
- Please empty the trash pail before you leave.
- A metal pail hung from the handle of the old hand pump.
Learner examples
- He carried a pail of water to the house.
- The little girl played with her pail in the sand.
- I put the food scraps in the trash pail.
- She washed the floor with a pail and a mop.
- There is a blue pail behind the door.
Noun
B2
quantity
2
amount that fills one pail
An amount of something that is enough to fill one pail.
Usage pattern:
a pail of [liquid or substance]
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes forget the preposition "of" and say *"a pail water" instead of "a pail of water". They may also confuse this quantity sense with the container itself; context usually shows whether the focus is on the amount ("three pails of water") or the object ("an old metal pail").
Synonyms
bucketful (Informal; refers to the same kind of quantity but is formed from "bucket" instead of "pail" and is more common in everyday speech.)
|
containerful (More general and less common; refers to however much a given container can hold, not specifically a pail.)
Collocations
a pail of water
|two pails of milk
|several pails of sand
|a pail of feed
|a pail of slop
|carry pails of [something]
Themes
measurement
|daily life
|daily_life
|core_vocabulary
Examples
- The farmer brought in three pails of milk from the barn.
- They used several pails of sand to weigh down the tent.
- She poured a pail of water over the campfire to make sure it was out.
- Workers carried pails of cement up the stairs all morning.
- We needed only one pail of paint to cover the whole fence.
Learner examples
- He carried two pails of water from the river.
- The cows give many pails of milk every day.
- We filled a pail of sand for the sandbox.
- She brought a pail of clean water into the house.
- He mixed a pail of cement outside.
Grammar
Dictionary form
pail
IPA
GB/pˈeɪl/
US/pˈeɪl/
Syllables & stress
pail (1 syllable)
Stress on 1st syllable (pail)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: pail
- Plural: pails
Word family
Forms
pails
noun
Related words
pailful
noun
bucket
noun A2
Expressions
No expressions linked to this entry yet.