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. Also: picquet. 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

Other Word Forms

• picketer noun
• counterpicket noun
• unpicketed 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

Unite claimed a growing number of agency staff were refusing to cross the picket lines of striking bin workers due to "unsustainable workloads" and a bullying workplace culture at the council's refuse department.

Read more on BBC

And he warned his members would only leave the picket line if there was a major emergency – such as a mass casualty event.

Read more on BBC

The number of workers who remain out on the picket line has dwindled to 28 from the 120 who walked out at the beginning of the strike.

Read more on MarketWatch

The picketing machinists benefited from a strike fund while they were off the job but were under increasing pressure as healthcare coverage lapsed for some families.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

More than three years ago, a group of employees from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette went on strike — and they have been walking the picket line ever since.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• blockade 
• boycott 
• demonstrate 
• protest 
• walk out