How to Use pail in a Sentence

pail

noun
  • She poured a pail of water on the campfire.
  • A plastic beach pail was lying on the sand.
  • The lunch pail was more than a prop.
    — Christina Daves, Southern Living, 31 Aug. 2025
  • That same ease carries through when the pail is full.
    — Malana Vantyler, USA Today, 18 June 2026
  • So which crabs will climb over his shell to try to get to the rim of the pail?
    — Chris Stirewalt, Fox News, 30 May 2017
  • The pail came to hold more than symbolism.
    — Christina Daves, Southern Living, 31 Aug. 2025
  • Long, colorful glass tubes fill pails on the floor and her desk.
    — Lisa Boone, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026
  • Trump set the house on fire and then fetched a single pail of water.
    — Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 13 May 2025
  • Those with deep pockets might still have a shot at a 5-pound pail of fries.
    — Sharyn Jackson, Star Tribune, 14 Aug. 2020
  • Teams of two camels would pull up the pails of water in a mill system.
    — Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Mar. 2023
  • In the morning, a pail of fluffy biscuits will be brought to your door.
    — Rona Berg, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024
  • Fill each pail with sweets, treats and trinkets to enjoy all month long.
    — Amanda Garrity, Good Housekeeping, 10 Nov. 2022
  • Use your hand to brush away excess soil and place the bulbs in a garden pail.
    — Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 23 Jan. 2025
  • In a league full of flashy stat hunters, Rollins brings his lunch pail and just goes to work.
    — Brian Sampson, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025
  • Tucker’s was the place to get a homecooked meal and to stock up their lunch pails.
    — Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 27 Sep. 2024
  • Nick’s a hard-hat, lunch-pail type guy who comes to work every single day.
    — Gary Bedore, kansascity, 10 May 2018
  • The studio even gave her a little pail and shovel to pose with.
    — Tereza Shkurtaj, People.com, 10 May 2025
  • Add a gardening tool or a water pail, a bow, and you are set!
    — Courier Journal Staff, The Courier-Journal, 11 Nov. 2021
  • But odor control is not only about what happens when the pail is closed.
    — Malana Vantyler, USA Today, 18 June 2026
  • With the crude camp in place, Wilson grabbed a pail to fetch water.
    — Scott Haugen, Outdoor Life, 16 Oct. 2024
  • Put some beach grass in a galvanized pail on the table and you're done.
    — Lisa Boone, latimes.com, 26 May 2018
  • The city even offered residents a free food waste pail to use in their kitchens.
    — Karen Garciastaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2023
  • To clean, slide the pail out of the wooden box and place it in the dishwasher.
    — Kathleen Willcox, Popular Mechanics, 28 May 2022
  • Barrels were rolled out to the airplane and gas transferred to our tanks in open pails.
    — Delbert L. Chears, Outdoor Life, 5 Mar. 2026
  • The new rules also say each kid in a sandbox must have his or her own shovel and pail.
    — Steve Rubenstein, SFChronicle.com, 14 Oct. 2020
  • Each pail is decorated with a spooky jack o'lantern face.
    — Endia Fontanez, AZCentral.com, 14 Oct. 2025
  • There also were candles on the tree, so a pail of water was kept handy in case of fire.
    — Barbara Benson, chicagotribune.com, 14 Dec. 2017
  • Don't forget about the bottom of the trash pail too; wipe out any residue or leftover gunk.
    — Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, 7 Feb. 2018
  • At its best, a diaper pail is not just a place where dirty diapers go.
    — Malana Vantyler, USA Today, 18 June 2026
  • His pail of sticky cement sat next to him, and a trowel in his right hand was dripping on the floor.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 10 Sep. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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