beyond the pail

[sagehen]

Mark Worden, quoting the Tenth Collegiate writes:
For example, a pail is
> said to have a handle, whereas nothing is mentioned about this
> feature at the entry for "bucket" (suggesting that it could have a
> handle but doesn't have to).  Both are defined as usually (or
> typically) cylindrical vessels (or containers), but more is said about
> a bucket's specific functions ("catching, holding, or carrying liquids
> or solids"), which would seem to suggest that a pail isn't limited to
> those functions.
~~~~~
A familiar example in New England is the sap bucket.  It hung, by means of
a hole just under its rim, on the spile which drained the sap from the
tree. They usually needed no handle, since they were emptied in situ into
the gathering tank that was drawn through the sugar bush by team or
tractor.
A. Murie