Definition

1. Noun:

   • A pointed stake or wooden post: A slender, often pointed piece of wood or metal driven into the ground, used to mark a boundary, support a fence, or tether an animal.
   • A person or group stationed outside a place of work during a strike: A protester, often a union member, who stands outside a workplace to dissuade others from entering or working, typically as part of a labor dispute.
   • A small group of soldiers or a single vehicle on guard duty: A detachment of troops or a sentinel vehicle assigned to watch for enemy movement or to provide early warning.
   • A person employed to keep watch: Someone hired to guard or observe.

2. Verb:

   • To secure or enclose with stakes: To fasten something, like an animal, to a stake or to mark a boundary with stakes.
   • To act as a picket during a strike or protest: To stand outside a workplace or location as a demonstrator to protest or persuade others not to enter.
   • To post or station as a guard: To place soldiers or sentries on watch.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • He hammered the wooden picket into the ground to repair the fence.
  • The union members formed a picket outside the factory gates.
  • An advance picket was sent to watch for enemy patrols.

• Verb:

  • Please picket the horse to that post.
  • The workers decided to picket the store to demand better wages.
  • Troops were picketed along the border.

Advanced Usage

• "To walk a picket line": To participate in a strike by walking back and forth as part of a line of protesters outside a workplace.

  • Hundreds of employees walked the picket line for weeks.

• "Picket fence": A fence made of a series of vertical pointed stakes (pickets) connected by horizontal rails.

  • The house had a charming white picket fence.

Variants and Related Words

• Picketing (n): The act of standing as a picket, especially during a labor strike.
  • The picketing continued peacefully for several days.

Synonyms

• Noun (Stake): Stake, post, pale, peg.
• Noun (Protester): Protester, demonstrator, striker.
• Noun (Guard): Sentinel, guard, watch, patrol.
• Verb (Protest): Demonstrate, protest, boycott.
• Verb (Secure): Tether, fasten, secure, stake.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Picket" is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. Its meanings are typically expressed directly.)

Related Idioms

• "To cross the picket line": To go into a workplace despite an ongoing strike and the presence of picketing workers, often seen as breaking solidarity with the strikers.
  • Some workers chose to cross the picket line, causing tension.

Noun

1. 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 stake
2. a wooden strip forming part of a fence
3. a vehicle performing sentinel duty
4. a protester posted by a labor organization outside a place of work
5. a detachment of troops guarding an army from surprise attack
6. a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event

Verb

1. fasten with a picket
   • picket the goat
2. serve as pickets or post pickets
   • picket a business to protest the layoffs