picket

[ pik-it ]

/ ˈpɪk ɪt /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR picket ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a post, stake, pale, or peg that is used in a fence or barrier, to fasten down a tent, etc.

a person stationed by a union or the like outside a factory, store, mine, etc., in order to dissuade or prevent workers or customers from entering it during a strike.

a person engaged in any similar demonstration, as against a government's policies or actions, before an embassy, office building, construction project, etc.

Military. a soldier or detachment of soldiers placed on a line forward of a position to warn against an enemy advance.

Navy, Air Force. an aircraft or ship performing similar sentinel duty.

verb (used with object)

to enclose within a picket fence or stockade, as for protection, imprisonment, etc.: to picket a lawn; to picket captives.

to fasten or tether to a picket.

to place pickets in front of or around (a factory, store, mine, embassy, etc.), as during a strike or demonstration.

Military.

to guard, as with pickets.
to post as a picket.

verb (used without object)

to stand or march as a picket.

Origin of picket

From the French word piquet, dating back to 1680–90. See pike², -et

OTHER WORDS FROM picket

pick·et·er, noun coun·ter·pick·et, noun, verb un·pick·et·ed, adjective

Words nearby picket

pickerel, pickerel frog, pickerelweed, pickering, pickeringite, picket, picket boat, picket fence, picket line, pickett, pickford

Example sentences from the Web for picket

Strandf could photograph anything from a blind woman to a picket fence and make the image indelible.

The Best Gift Books of 2014 |William O’Connor |December 12, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
A bar chart showing quarterly GDP growth resembles the teeth of a saw, not a picket fence.

The U.S. Economy Had a Hiccup, Not a Heart Attack, This Year |Daniel Gross |May 29, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Yet the teachers are angrily rejecting it and taking to the picket line.

Chicago Teachers Take to the Picket Line |Megan McArdle |September 10, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
From there, groups of one or two hundred went to picket locations, including Bank of America.

Did May Day Save Occupy Wall Street? |Matthew DeLuca |May 2, 2012 |DAILY BEAST

Truitt came late to abstraction, by way of pictures of picket fences.

The Maximal Minimalist |Blake Gopnik |March 29, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
I listened, and soon became convinced that they were a picket, sent out there to watch for just such persons as myself.

Daring and Suffering: |William Pittenger
It is safer to picket a horse by a rope upon the neck rather than upon the leg.

Pluck on the Long Trail |Edwin L. Sabin
Mr. Picket is apt to be a little restless nights; walks in his sleep; and sometimes wanders about the house with a loaded musket.

A Tender Attachment |George Melville Baker
Such was our life on picket at Port Royal,—a thing whose memory is now fast melting into such stuff as dreams are made of.

Army Life in a Black Regiment |Thomas Wentworth Higginson
If he had, that picket officer would have known that I am not the man.

Brave Old Salt |Oliver Optic

British Dictionary definitions for picket

picket

/ (ˈpɪkɪt) /

noun

a pointed stake, post, or peg that is driven into the ground to support a fence, provide a marker for surveying, etc

an individual or group that stands outside an establishment to make a protest, to dissuade or prevent employees or clients from entering, etc

Also: picquet a small detachment of troops or warships positioned towards the enemy to give early warning of attack

verb

to post or serve as pickets at (a factory, embassy, etc) let's go and picket the shop

to guard (a main body or place) by using or acting as a picket

(tr) to fasten (a horse or other animal) to a picket

(tr) to fence (an area, boundary, etc) with pickets

Derived forms of picket

picketer, noun

Word Origin for picket

C18: from French piquet, from Old French piquer to prick; see pike ²

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

picket

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

Origin of picket

OTHER WORDS FROM picket

Words nearby picket

Example sentences from the Web for picket

British Dictionary definitions for picket

noun

verb

Derived forms of picket

Word Origin for picket

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

picket

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

Origin of picket

OTHER WORDS FROM picket

Words nearby picket

Words related to picket

Example sentences from the Web for picket

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for picket

noun

verb

Derived forms of picket

Word Origin for picket

British Dictionary definitions for picket