| picket | 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. [Probably so called from the picketing of the horses. 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 labour organization, to intercept outsiders, and prevent them from working for employers with whom the organization is at variance. 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 A position held and guarded by small bodies of men placed at intervals. A rope to which horses are secured when groomed. Picketpin, an iron pin for picketing horses. Origin: F. Piquet, properly dim. Of pique spear, pike. See Pike, and cf. Piquet. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| picketee | <botany> See Picotee. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |