picket

American  

[pik-it] / ˈpɪk ɪt /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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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

• counterpicket
  noun
• picketer
  noun
• unpicketed
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of picket

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

Explanation

A picket is a vertical wooden board in a fence. You might have a white picket fence enclosing your whole front yard, so your little dog can't escape. Besides the "wooden stake or strip" meaning, you can also use picket as a verb to mean "protest or strike." When disgruntled workers go on strike, they often picket outside their workplace, holding signs and chanting. You can also call one of these protesting workers a picket. The original meaning, from the 1680s, is "a pointed stake used as a defensive weapon." And the original picket line was a line of military troops.

Example Sentences

Matching the level of support at Wimbledon in 1973 will take some doing because, as in any workplace, there will be players prepared to cross a metaphorical picket line outside the entrance to Centre Court.

From BBC • May 7, 2026

Executives said the plant has enough workers crossing the picket line to run a partial shift during parts of the strike.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

Much like Hogan’s mansion—which occupies three stories—the cottage property backs right onto the beach, with a charming white picket fence added to separate the dwelling from the publicly accessible area.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026

In that strike, all the district’s unions honored the teachers’ picket lines, said Cassondra Curiel, president of United Educators of San Francisco.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

The same year, Papa replaced our old-fashioned white picket fence with a fancy iron one and set up the iron stag between the pittosporum bush and the elaeagnus.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

Related Words

• blockade
• boycott
• demonstrate
• protest
• walk out