brain bucket

Noun

brain bucket (plural brain buckets)

1. (humorous, idiomatic, sometimes) A protective helmet, as worn, for example, by a motorcyclist, bicyclist, or soldier in combat.
   • The Air Force not only makes up words and phrases (e.g., brain bucket for crash helmet) . . . .1956 August 13, “Education: Pigs Aren't Pigs”, in Time
   • Roy Knickman of 7-Eleven said he fears more crashes today and will not keep his helmet far from sight. "I always wear my brain bucket," he said.1987 July 7, Susan Bickelhaupt, "Tour de France Packed Solid," Boston Globe, Sports p. 33
2. (dated) The skull; the head.
   • [H]e fetched me such a clip on top of my brain-bucket as to drive all my senses clear down into my boots.1856, Frederick W. Saunders, “A Yarn in The Long Boat”, in Ballou's Monthly Magazine, volume 4, number 4, page 326
   • "[B]ut come, Ed, haven't you got your brain-bucket mended yet, so that you can tell us a story?"1880, Daniel Wise, chapter 6, in Oscar's Boyhood; or, The Sailor's Son

   Synonyms:

   brainbox, cranium, noggin, belfry, bean, beaner, block, bonce, calabash, dome