bucket and spade

English

Alternative forms

• bucket-and-spade (especially attributive)
• pail and shovel (North America)

Noun

a bucket and spade

bucket and spade (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.
   • 2021 January 13, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Spectacular funiculars”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 54:

     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.

2. (attributive) Denoting traditional seaside leisure activities.

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

   the bucket and spade brigade

Translations

child's toy

• Portuguese: balde e pá