picket

[ pik-it ]

noun

1. a post, stake, pale, or peg that is used in a fence or barrier, to fasten down a tent, etc.
2. 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.
3. a person engaged in any similar demonstration, as against a government's policies or actions, before an embassy, office building, construction project, etc.
4. Military. a soldier or detachment of soldiers placed on a line forward of a position to warn against an enemy advance.
5. Navy, Air Force. an aircraft or ship performing similar sentinel duty.

verb (used with object)

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

   to picket a lawn; to picket captives.

2. to fasten or tether to a picket.
3. to place pickets in front of or around (a factory, store, mine, embassy, etc.), as during a strike or demonstration.
4. Military.
   1. to guard, as with pickets.
   2. to post as a picket.

verb (used without object)

1. to stand or march as a picket.

picket

/ ˈpɪkɪt /

noun

1. a pointed stake, post, or peg that is driven into the ground to support a fence, provide a marker for surveying, etc
2. an individual or group that stands outside an establishment to make a protest, to dissuade or prevent employees or clients from entering, etc
3. Alsopicquet a small detachment of troops or warships positioned towards the enemy to give early warning of attack

verb

1. to post or serve as pickets at (a factory, embassy, etc)

   let's go and picket the shop

2. to guard (a main body or place) by using or acting as a picket
3. tr to fasten (a horse or other animal) to a picket
4. tr to fence (an area, boundary, etc) with pickets

Derived Forms

• ˈpicketer, noun

Other Words From

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of picket¹

First recorded in 1680–90; from French piquet, equivalent to pike ² + -et ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of picket¹

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

Example Sentences

If the 5.5% increase is not implemented, Ms Speed said there would be a "very difficult environment" with health care workers "on the picket lines post Christmas".

From BBC

He was also politically active on social media, reposting content from Russian opposition figures and occasionally sharing his own political content, including a video in which he can be seen holding a solo picket in support of late opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

From BBC

Guillén: I think it’s a good lesson for everyone in life that sometimes we want something so bad — like 2.5 kids, white picket fence, marriage at a certain age — but some things just are not for everyone.

From Los Angeles Times

Civilian clerks sat behind wooden desks, and a security control picket was manned by a single prison guard.

From Slate

Passages that inspired Christians to open settlement houses to shelter poor city dwellers and join union picket lines to fight against decrepit working conditions also formed the core of Martin Luther King Jr.'s argument that pastors cannot preach the glories of heaven while ignoring the earthly hell of racialized oppression.

From Salon

Related Words

• sentry