pail

Meanings

Plural: pails

Noun

a roughly cylindrical vessel that is open at the top
the quantity contained in a pail
A vessel of wood, tin, plastic, etc., usually cylindrical and having a handle -- used especially for carrying liquids, for example water or milk; a bucket (sometimes with a cover).
A closed (covered) cylindrical shipping container.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English payle (“bucket, pail, milking pail”), of uncertain origin.
Likely from Old English pæġel (“wine vessel, container for liquids, pail; a liquid measure”), from Proto-West Germanic *pagil, from Proto-Indo-European *bak- (“peg, club”), equivalent to peg + -le. Compare German Pegel (“level of liquid, level”), Middle Dutch pegel (“half-pint”), Danish pægl (“half-pint”). Doublet of peil.
Alternatively from Old French paielle (“frying pan, warming pan; a liquid measure”), from Latin patella (“small pan, shallow dish, platter”), diminutive of patina (“broad shallow pan, stewpan”). Perhaps a conflation of both.

Synonyms

bucket, pailful

Scrabble Score: 6

pail is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
pail is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
pail is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 8

pail is a valid Words With Friends word