Kick the Bucket
/ˌkɪk ðə ˈbʌkɪt/noun
An informal idiom meaning to die.
Did you know?The earliest known printed evidence appears in Francis Grose’s 1785 slang dictionary, which recorded “kick the bucket” as meaning to die without explaining why.
Etymological Timeline
Before the 18th Century
English
kick the bucket
“No securely documented earlier origin is known; proposed explanations remain speculative.”
1785
English
kick the bucket
“Recorded by Francis Grose in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue as a slang expression meaning to die.”
19th Century
English
kick the bucket
“The idiom became established in colloquial British English as a humorous or indirect reference to death.”
19th Century
English
kick the bucket
“Various theories linked the phrase to a person kicking a bucket while hanging or to a slaughtered animal struggling against a support, but none is proven.”
Modern English
English
kick the bucket
“A familiar informal euphemism for dying, often used humorously or irreverently.”