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definitions

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.

Origin of picket

From the French word piquet, dating back to 1680–90. See pike2, -et
Related formspick·et·er, nouncoun·ter·pick·et, noun, verbun·pick·et·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for picketed

demonstrator, sentry, blockade, demonstrate, boycott, stanchion, pillar, stake, rail, palisade, upright, peg, pale, panel, paling, protester, striker, lookout, patrol, watch

Examples from the Web for picketed

Contemporary Examples of picketed

Historical Examples of picketed

  • She was walking toward the meadow where Don, the horse, was picketed.

    The Rise of Roscoe Paine

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • A man came to a window in a picketed wicket as he entered, and said briskly: “Well?”

    The Plunderer

    Roy Norton

  • Beyond them were picketed three horses, the nearest of which was Rocket.

    Out of the Depths

    Robert Ames Bennet

  • Jack ran down the incline to the little draw where the animals had been picketed.

    Oh, You Tex!

    William Macleod Raine

  • By this scheme a horse may be picketed out on the bare desert.

British Dictionary definitions for picketed

picket

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
Derived Formspicketer, noun

Word Origin for picket

C18: from French piquet, from Old French piquer to prick; see pike ²
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
Word Origin and History for picketed

picket

n.

1680s, "pointed stake (for defense against cavalry, etc.)," from French piquet "pointed stake," from piquer "to pierce" (see pike (n.2)). Sense of "troops posted to watch for enemy" first recorded 1761; that of "striking workers stationed to prevent others from entering a factory" is from 1867. Picket line is 1856 in the military sense, 1945 of labor strikes.

picket

v.

1745, "to enclose with pickets," from picket (n.). The sense in labor strikes, protests, etc., is attested from 1867. Related: Picketed; picketing.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper