bucket

views updated May 18 2018

buck·et / ˈbəkit/ • n. a roughly cylindrical open container, typically made of metal or plastic, with a handle, used to hold and carry liquids or other material. ∎  the contents of such a container or the amount it can contain: she emptied a bucket of water over them. ∎  (buckets) inf. large quantities of liquid, typically rain or tears: I wept buckets. ∎ Basketball a basket. ∎  Comput. a unit of data that can be transferred from a backing store in a single operation. ∎  a compartment on the outer edge of a waterwheel. ∎  the scoop of a dredger or grain elevator. ∎  a scoop attached to the front of a loader, digger, or tractor.• v. (buck·et·ed, buck·et·ing) [intr.] inf. rain heavily: it was still bucketing down.DERIVATIVES: buck·et·ful n. .

bucket

views updated Jun 11 2018

bucket
1. A subdivision of a data file, serving as the unit within which records are located. Buckets are specially used in connection with hashing techniques, and with indexing techniques (see index) where index entries point to groups of records. In these circumstances, hashing or indexing will yield the address of the start of the bucket; the location for storage or retrieval within the bucket will then be found by searching.

2. A capacitor whose electric charge is used as a form of dynamic RAM. A fully charged bucket, or full bucket, is equivalent to a logic 1; an uncharged or empty bucket is equivalent to a logic 0. The charge may be passed through an array of capacitors and associated electronics, which together form a bucket brigade.

bucket

views updated May 23 2018

bucket XIII. — AN. buket, buquet tub, pail (cf. AL. bo-, bukettum XIII), perh. f. OE. būc belly, pitcher = MLG, būk, OHG. būh (G. bauch), ON. búkr body; see -ET.