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Picket   /pˈɪkɪt/   Listen
noun
Picket  n.  
1.
A stake sharpened or pointed, especially one used in fortification and encampments, to mark bounds and angles; or one used for tethering horses.
2.
A pointed pale, used in marking fences.
3.
(Mil.) A detached body of troops serving to guard an army from surprise, and to oppose reconnoitering parties of the enemy; called also outlying picket.
4.
By extension, men appointed by a trades union, or other labor organization, to intercept outsiders, and prevent them from working for employers with whom the organization is at variance. (Cant)
5.
A military punishment, formerly resorted to, in which the offender was forced to stand with one foot on a pointed stake.
6.
A game at cards. See Piquet.
Inlying picket (Mil.), a detachment of troops held in camp or quarters, detailed to march if called upon.
Picket fence, a fence made of pickets. See def. 2, above.
Picket guard (Mil.), a guard of horse and foot, always in readiness in case of alarm.
Picket line. (Mil.)
(a)
A position held and guarded by small bodies of men placed at intervals.
(b)
A rope to which horses are secured when groomed.
Picketpin, an iron pin for picketing horses.


verb
Picket  v. t.  (past & past part. picketed; pres. part. picketing)  
1.
To fortify with pointed stakes.
2.
To inclose or fence with pickets or pales.
3.
To tether to, or as to, a picket; as, to picket a horse.
4.
To guard, as a camp or road, by an outlying picket.
5.
To torture by compelling to stand with one foot on a pointed stake. (Obs.)





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Picket" Quotes from Famous Books



... other remedy. Before I go to sleep, I'll picket the horses close beside me; and if you steal away on foot during the night, I'll ride you down a few hours after daybreak. I think you understand me. There's ...
— The Intriguers • Harold Bindloss
... of a new coat of white paint. The elms dwindled away and an occasional maple dotted the common with shade. The driver guided the patient gray to the left and, near the centre of the common, drew up in front of a little white house, which, like the picket fence in front of it, the flagstaff on the common, and so many other things in Eden Village, seemed to ...
— The Lilac Girl • Ralph Henry Barbour
... were on the point of entering the old dwelling house, and seemingly were unaccompanied by any others. Sam happened fortunately to be standing in shadow, and they passed without seeing him. But what was he now to do? He was at the back of the house, and a high picket fence around the place made it impossible for him to escape by the front-way, towards which the savages had gone. Looking through the door-way, he saw that the pair had passed through the room nearest him ...
— The Big Brother - A Story of Indian War • George Cary Eggleston
... objection, Senor Americano, I will let my horse picket awhile, and rest myself; for I have ridden many miles since sunrise, and not a blessed 'barego' have ...
— Inez - A Tale of the Alamo • Augusta J. Evans
... the picket, the regiments went forward, just as a desultory firing from the front showed that the alarm had been given by Sullivan's attack. Pushing on, a sight of the enemy was gained,—a confused mass of men some three hundred yards away, but in front of them two guns were already being wheeled into ...
— Janice Meredith • Paul Leicester Ford


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