noun

• 1An unauthorized office for speculating in stocks or currency using the funds of unwitting investors.

  More example sentences

  • ‘The Iowa Electronic Market, which runs a kind of a legal bucket shop in political candidacies, has restructured its presidential futures market.’
  • ‘In the real world, I think that kind of unauthorized trading would meet the legal definition of a bucket shop.’
  • ‘What worked at the bucket shops didn't play on Wall Street. Within six months of the start of his legitimate trading career Livermore was wiped out.’
  • ‘The U.S. has laws restricting bucket shop practices by limiting the ability of brokerage houses to create and trade certain types of over-the-counter securities.’
  • ‘With stock market speculation on its way to becoming a home-based sport (which, as the bucket shops were said to do, principally attracts those who are ‘looking for entertainment and excitement’ - and a killing!)’

• 2British A travel agency that specializes in providing cheap air tickets.

  More example sentences

  • ‘‘I think the time is up for the smaller bucket shop travel agencies,’ says Ross.’
  • ‘When the holiday to Tunisia fell through, because the bucket shop went bust, Maggie knew that it was probably a good thing; some terrible experience had waited for her there, where she would have got mobbed, literally mobbed.’
  • ‘If you're looking for the cheapest deal on international flights, then buying your tickets from a bucket shop can save you big.’
  • ‘If you plan your next trip or vacation ahead, you can find some of the best deals with consolidators or "bucket shops".’
  • ‘And yesterday online bucket shop Lastminute.com announced it would be profitable within 12 months.’