picket

Noun · Verb
Synonyms: lookoutlookout mansentinelsentrywatchspotterscoutpalepiquet

WordNet 3.0

Noun (6)

  1. a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated eventSynonyms: lookoutlookout mansentinelsentrywatchspotterscout
  2. a detachment of troops guarding an army from surprise attack
  3. a protester posted by a labor organization outside a place of work
  4. a vehicle performing sentinel duty
  5. a wooden strip forming part of a fenceSynonyms: pale
  6. a form of military punishment used by the British in the late 17th century in which a soldier was forced to stand on one foot on a pointed stakeSynonyms: piquet

Verb (2)

  1. serve as pickets or post pickets“picket a business to protest the layoffs”
  2. fasten with a picket“picket the goat”
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Picket \Pick"et\, n. [F. piquet, properly dim. of pique spear, pike. See Pike, and cf. 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. [1913 Webster]

2.A pointed pale, used in marking fences. [1913 Webster]

3.[Probably so called from the picketing of the horses.] (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. [1913 Webster]

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] [1913 Webster]

5.A military punishment, formerly resorted to, in which the offender was forced to stand with one foot on a pointed stake. [1913 Webster]

6.A game at cards. See Piquet. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

Picket \Pick"et\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Picketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Picketing.]

1.To fortify with pointed stakes. [1913 Webster]

2.To inclose or fence with pickets or pales. [1913 Webster]

3.To tether to, or as to, a picket; as, to picket a horse. [1913 Webster]

4.To guard, as a camp or road, by an outlying picket. [1913 Webster]

5.To torture by compelling to stand with one foot on a pointed stake. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

Piquet \Pi*quet"\, n. [F., prob. fr. pique. See Pique, Pike, and Picket.] A game at cards played between two persons, with thirty-two cards, all the deuces, threes, fours, fives, and sixes, being set aside. [Written also picket and picquet.] [1913 Webster]
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