PICKET

A stake sharpened or pointed, especially one used in fortification and encampments, to mark bounds and angles; or one used for tethering horses.

A pointed pale, used in marking fences.

A detached body of troops serving to guard an army from surprise, and to oppose reconnoitering parties of the enemy; -- called also outlying picket.

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. [Cant]

A military punishment, formerly resorted to, in which the offender was forced to stand with one foot on a pointed stake.

A game at cards. See Piquet. Inlying picket (Mil.), a detachment of troops held in camp or quarters, detailed to march if called upon. -- Picket fence, a fence made of pickets. See def. 2, above. -- Picket guard (Mil.), a guard of horse and foot, always in readiness in case of alarm. -- Picket line. (Mil.) (a) A position held and guarded by small bodies of men placed at intervals. (b) A rope to which horses are secured when groomed. -- Picketpin, an iron pin for picketing horses.

To fortify with pointed stakes.

To inclose or fence with pickets or pales.

To tether to, or as to, a picket; as, to picket a horse.

To guard, as a camp or road, by an outlying picket.

To torture by compelling to stand with one foot on a pointed stake. [Obs.]