kick the bucket

Meaning

Verb

• To die.
• To break down such that it cannot be repaired.

Origin

• There are many theories as to where this idiom comes from, but the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) suggests the following:
• A person standing on a pail or bucket with their head in a slip noose would kick the bucket so as to commit suicide. The OED, however, says that this is mainly speculative;
• An archaic use of bucket was a beam from which a pig is hung by its feet prior to being slaughtered, and to kick the bucket originally signified the pig's death throes. The OED finds this a more plausible theory.
• Another theory is given by Roman Catholic Bishop Abbot Horne.