Category:Picket

Pick"et, n. Etym: [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.

2. A pointed pale, used in marking fences.

3. Etym: [probably so called from the picketing of the horses.] (mil.)

Defn: 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.

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