bucket and spade

noun

A child’s toy, consisting of a (usually plastic) bucket and spade, used for building simple sandcastles at the beach.

“the bucket and spade brigade”

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Meanings

nounbucket and spade (plural buckets and spades)

plural buckets and spades

  1. A child’s toy, consisting of a (usually plastic) bucket and spade, used for building simple sandcastles at the beach.

    And as a marker of the Edwardians, both embody the pleasure principle and have (in my view) a certain bucket-n-spade frivolity to them.

    2021 January 13, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Spectacular funiculars”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 54
  2. attributiveDenoting traditional seaside leisure activities.

    the bucket and spade brigade

    1 more example

    People aren’t going on bucket-and-spade holidays any more.

Translations

Portuguese balde e pá
  • balde e páchild's toy
Swedish hink och spade
  • hink och spadechild's toy
Cite this entry
APA

bucket and spade. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bucket%20and%20spade

MLA

“bucket and spade.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bucket%20and%20spade. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bucket and spade,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bucket%20and%20spade.

Source: bucket and spade on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.