picket: Meaning and Definition of

pick•et

Pronunciation: (pik'it), [key]
— n.
  1. a post, stake, pale, or peg that is used in a fence or barrier, to fasten down a tent, etc.
  2. a person stationed by a union or the like outside a factory, store, mine, etc., in order to dissuade or prevent workers or customers from entering it during a strike.
  3. a person engaged in any similar demonstration, as against a government's policies or actions, before an embassy, office building, construction project, etc.
  4. a soldier or detachment of soldiers placed on a line forward of a position to warn against an enemy advance.
  5. an aircraft or ship performing similar sentinel duty.
—v.t.
  1. to enclose within a picket fence or stockade, as for protection, imprisonment, etc.: to picket a lawn; to picket captives.
  2. to fasten or tether to a picket.
  3. to place pickets in front of or around (a factory, store, mine, embassy, etc.), as during a strike or demonstration.
    1. to guard, as with pickets.
    2. to post as a picket.
—v.i.
  1. to stand or march as a picket.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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