Idiom: A drop in the bucket

 

"A drop in the bucket"


Meaning

  • a very small amount compared to the amount needed
  • something small and unimportant, esp. when compared with something else


Notes: 

A bucket could hold tens of thousands of drops of liquid so a drop (one drop) would be a very small or insignificant (unimportant) amount of the entire bucket of liquid.

Synonym: The British and Australian equivalent is "a drop in the ocean".


Example Sentences

  • We were paid about $50,000, but that was a drop in the bucket compared to what some other companies got.
  • For years businesses have dumped toxic waste into the ocean thinking it was just a drop in the bucket but that behavior has destroyed many ecosystems.
  • I cleaned for eight hours today but that's just a drop in the bucket of the work I need to do to get this house cleaned and organized.
  • I know twenty dollars is just a drop in the bucket, but if everyone gave that much it'd make a big difference.
  • What we were paid for our work was a drop in the bucket compared to what the company earned.
  • I'm glad Tony started repaying the money he borrowed from me, but the five dollars he gave me yesterday is just a drop in the bucket compared to what he still owes.
  • This business is just a drop in the bucket of what he owns.
  • For a millionaire, the cost of a luxury car is a drop in the bucket.
  • If you want to have anything to be done, you need to organize thousands of people to protest. You know, one complaint letter is just a drop in the bucket.
  • If we ever have a worldwide economic crash, thousands of banks  will go down. The government says it will back the bank accounts of bank customers but the amount of money  they have in their funds to do this is a drop in the bucket.


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