n. | 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. | (Mil.) 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. |
| 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. |
v. t. | 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. |