picket
/ˈpɪkɪt/
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.27 in modern English
Meaning
noun
A type of punishment by which an offender had to rest his or her entire body weight on the top of a small stake.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A tool in mountaineering that is driven into the snow and used as an anchor or to arrest falls.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
One of the soldiers or troops placed on a line forward of a position to warn against an enemy advance; or any unit (for example, an aircraft or ship) performing a similar function.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A protester positioned outside an office, workplace etc. during a strike (usually in plural); also the protest itself.
Countable; Uncountable
verb
To protest, organized by a labour union, typically in front of the location of employment.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "a picket fence"
- "So confident was he that he ignored the warning of his two British advisers to post pickets to watch the river, and even withdrew those they had placed there."
- "Maccario, it was evident, did not care to take the risk of blundering upon a picket, and a man led them by twisting paths until at last the hacienda rose blackly before them."
- "Pickets normally endeavor to be non-violent."
- "In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time."
- "One of the most striking was the silver pin presented to all members of the National Women’s Party who served time for picketting the White House for women’s suffrage."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɪkɪt/
- British English: /ˈpɪkɪt/