Origin of Phrases - K
Kick the bucket
Meaning: To die or stop working.
Example: My old car finally kicked the bucket.
Origin: Pigs to be slaughtered are bled, that is the blood is drained from the body. One way this is accomplished is to hang the pig upside down from a bar (by one foot) that used to be known as a "buchet," a French word for it. The pig's throat was cut or opened with a sharp spike (See "bleed like a stuck pig"), and it would rapidly be bled. In its death throes, it would always, always kick the buchet.
Alternatively,
Refers to an inverted bucket that a person who is being hung might stand on. When the bucket is kicked out, the person is hung and dies.