picket fence

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noun

a fence consisting of pickets or pales nailed to horizontal stringers between upright posts.

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Also called paling, paling fence.

Origin of picket fence

An Americanism dating back to 1790–1800

Words nearby picket fence

Pickering, pickeringite, picker-upper, picket, picket boat, picket fence, picketing, picket line, Pickett, Pickford, pick holes in

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use picket fence in a sentence

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
I have the unique advantage of seeing this from both sides of the fence.
Ferguson Tensions in Black and White|Seth Ferranti|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
At this point, he became Tom Sawyer, letting his musical compatriots—and the folk tradition—help paint his musical fence.
Digging the Gold in Dylan’s ‘Basement’|Malcolm Jones|November 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But what about the screams, the salty puddles, and big empty packages of frozen fish lying on the ground outside the fence?
Activists: Moscow Sea Park Is ‘Torturing’ Its Orca Whales|Anna Nemtsova|October 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

On Thursday, Leyland fled her home after a photographer snapped her photo from behind her garden fence.
Outed Madeleine McCann Troll Kills Herself. But Millions Live On Online.|Barbie Latza Nadeau|October 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Many of them were wounded and the worst of these were put into a picket boat which had just that moment come along.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
I saw every crook in the fence, every rut in the road, every bush and tree long before we came to it.
The Soldier of the Valley|Nelson Lloyd
Another fence: who would furnish that two hundred and fifty dollars and secure him for the remainder?
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
They stopped, leaning over a jagged fence made of sea-drift, to ask for water.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
I raised my pipe above my head and hurled it against the fence, where it crashed into a score of pieces.
The Soldier of the Valley|Nelson Lloyd

British Dictionary definitions for picket fence

picket fence

noun

a fence consisting of pickets supported at close regular intervals by being driven into the ground, by interlacing with strong wire, or by nailing to horizontal timbers fixed to posts in the ground

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012