picket

1 of 2

noun

pick·​et ˈpi-kət How to pronounce picket (audio)
1
: a pointed or sharpened stake, post, or pale
2
a
: a detached body of soldiers serving to guard an army from surprise
b
: a detachment kept ready in camp for such duty
c
: sentry
3
a
: a person posted by a labor organization at a place of work affected by a strike
… dispossessed theatergoers shared the sidewalks with grim pickets yesterday as the stagehands' strike shut down most of Broadway's plays and musicals.Robert D. McFadden
also : a person posted for a demonstration or protest
In front of the White House pickets are marching … Lady Bird Johnson
b
: a protest or strike involving pickets
In such situations, the union often pickets the plant as well, but it is strictly an informational picket publicizing the nature of the controversy …Matthew A. Kelly

picket

2 of 2

verb

picketed; picketing; pickets

transitive verb

1
: to enclose, fence, or fortify with pickets
2
a
: to guard with a picket
b
: to post as a picket
3
: tether
4
a
: to post pickets at
b
: to walk or stand in front of as a picket

intransitive verb

: to serve as a picket
picketer noun

Examples of picket in a Sentence

Noun a house surrounded by a white picket fence Pickets marched in front of the company headquarters. The strikers held picket signs painted with angry slogans. The students were barred from holding a picket outside the company's headquarters. Verb Workers picketed outside the grocery store. The union is picketing the factory.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, Transportation Workers Union and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants co-organized the informational picket. Vinod Sreeharsha, Miami Herald, 15 Feb. 2024 The higher fence also has wider and stronger pickets. Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2024 Business Amid union’s tentative deals with more hotels, workers plan Rose Parade day pickets Dec. 22, 2023 Advertisement Aside from the theme, participating in the Rose Parade reminds McDonald, who was raised in Fresno, of memories of her late father. Angie Orellana Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 2023 Union members have also held pickets in front of MGM and Caesars properties. Irina Ivanova, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2023 Steve Maller prepares picket signs today at the Portland, Oregon, airport. Chris Isidore, CNN, 13 Feb. 2024 At long last, actors will be putting down their picket signs and picking up their scripts once again. EW.com, 8 Nov. 2023 As an early drizzle that morning turned into driving rain, members of the Writers Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and Teamsters Local 399 rallied in front of the Sherman Oaks offices of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers with picket signs, and a few umbrellas, in hand. Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Jan. 2024 After an outcry from writers and pickets outside the show’s New York studio, the show reversed course and held off on starting production until after the writers strike ended (which turned out to be less than two weeks later). Rick Porter, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Jan. 2024
Verb
With the enthusiastic support of his white co-workers, Weber welcomed the national spotlight – until David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan showed up in white robes to picket the Kaiser Aluminum plant. Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2024 The unions planned to picket at some of the nation’s busiest airports in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and elsewhere. David Koenig, Quartz, 13 Feb. 2024 Drivers will picket outside airports and Uber offices, two of the groups said. Reuters, NBC News, 12 Feb. 2024 United Airlines flight attendants picketed last week, followed by Alaska Airlines flight attendants on Tuesday. Ashley Ahn, Los Angeles Times, 21 Dec. 2023 The Professional Soccer Referees Association picketed in New York and Dallas on Wednesday, less than a week after the organization overwhelmingly rejected a tentative agreement with the Professional Referee Organization — which supplies match officials to MLS, the NWSL and other leagues. Tim Reynolds, USA TODAY, 21 Feb. 2024 Employees picketed in Tenet’s Fountain Valley, Los Alamitos and Lakewood hospitals in June 2021, alleging the facilities had left some workers without health insurance while the company received billions in federal COVID-19 relief funds and spent $1.1 billion to buy 45 surgery centers. Kevin Smith, Orange County Register, 2 Feb. 2024 Recommended Gratitude The transforming power of a thank-you note The strike comes during a big year for labor, one in which health care professionals, Hollywood actors and writers, and auto workers picketed for better pay and working conditions. Sophie Austin, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Dec. 2023 Lind is a prominent speaker at local rallies, yet feels slightly envious of colleagues in Hollywood, who picket outside studios daily — Atlanta may have the second-most number of soundstages in the nation, yet picket lines are a rarity because studios are headquartered elsewhere. R.j. Rico, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'picket.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

French piquet, from Middle French, from piquer to prick — more at pike

First Known Use

Noun

1687, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1729, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 3

Time Traveler
The first known use of picket was in 1687

Dictionary Entries Near picket

Cite this Entry

“Picket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/picket. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

picket

1 of 2 noun
pick·​et ˈpik-ət How to pronounce picket (audio)
1
: a pointed stake or post (as for a fence)
2
: a soldier or a group of soldiers assigned to stand guard
3
: a person (as a striking worker or a demonstrator) on a picket line

picket

2 of 2 verb
1
: to enclose, fence, or strengthen with pickets
2
a
: to guard with a picket
b
: to station as a picket
3
: tether entry 2
picket a horse
4
a
: to station pickets or act as a picket at
picket a factory
b
: to serve as a picket
picketer noun

Legal Definition

picket

1 of 2 noun
pick·​et
: a person posted by a labor organization at a place of employment affected by a labor dispute
broadly : a person posted for a demonstration or protest

picket

2 of 2 transitive verb
: to post pickets in front of : walk or stand in front of as a picket
their tactics have included picketing clinicsL. H. Tribe

intransitive verb

: to demonstrate by use of pickets
a currently certified union may picket for recognition
also : to serve as a picket see also informational picketing, organizational picketing, secondary picketing compare strike

Note: While the right to peacefully picket for a lawful purpose is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, case law has recognized some limitations and the Labor Management Relations Act has placed some restrictions on organizational and secondary picketing.

picketer noun

More from Merriam-Webster on picket

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!