Picket
Picket , noun
[French piquet, properly dim. of pique spear, pike. See Pike, and compare Piquet.]
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.
(Military) 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.
Collocations (5)
Inlying picket (Military) , 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 (Military) , a guard of horse and foot, always in readiness in case of alarm.
Picket line (Military) , (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.
Picket , transitive verb
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. [Obsolete]