α. 1600s picquett, 1600s– piquet, 1700s piquett, 1700s– picquet.
β. 1600s– picket.
picketn.1
/ˈpɪkɪt/, U.S. /ˈpɪkᵻt/ I. A stake, and related senses.
1.
a. Originally Military. A pointed stake driven into the ground for use in the construction of a fence or stockade, or to mark a position in surveying or military construction, to secure a tent, to tether a horse, etc.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > types of tools generally > [noun] > in form of bar, pole, rod, etc.
stingc725
stakec893
sowelc900
tree971
rungOE
shaftc1000
staffc1000
stockc1000
poleOE
spritOE
luga1250
lever1297
stanga1300
perchc1300
raftc1330
sheltbeam1336
stower1371
palea1382
spar1388
spire1392
perk1396
ragged staff1397
peela1400
slot1399
plantc1400
heck-stower1401
sparkin1408
cammockc1425
sallow stakec1440
spoke1467
perk treec1480
yard1480
bode1483
spit1485
bolm1513
gada1535
ruttock1542
stob1550
blade1558
wattle1570
bamboo1598
loggat1600
barling1611
sparret1632
picket1687
tringle1706
sprund1736
lug-pole1773
polting lug1789
baton1801
stuckin1809
rack-pin1821
picket-pin1844
I-iron1874
pricker1875
stag1881
podger1888
window pole1888
verge1897
sallow pole1898
lat1899
swizzle-stick1962
1687 J. Taylor Tresaurarium Mathematicae xiii. 286 [To lay down on the Ground any of the former Fortifications] Mark out the Diametrical lines, and making them their due length,..set Piquets, on all the P, P's upright with the Plane.
1701 A. Boyer Draughts Fortified Towns 7 The Pickets that are driven into the holes are 5 or 6 Foot long, pointed with Iron at both ends.
1702 Mil. Dict. Picket, or Piquet, is a Stake sharp at the end, which serves to mark out the Ground, and Angles of a Fortification, when the Ingenier is laying down the Plan... Pickets are also Stakes drove into the Ground, by the Tents of the Horse in the Field to tye their Horses to.
1711 London Gaz. No. 4871/2 Most of the Horses..breaking loose from their Pickets,..some were taken.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VI. xxi. 88 Upon the surface of which [sc. the bowling-green], by means of..a number of small piquets driven into the ground,..he transferred the lines from his paper [sc. town plans].
1803 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) I. 487 One end of the cable must be..fixed to a picket or to any thing firm.
1838 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 96/1 Marking the middle line, or axis of the road, by stakes or pickets, placed at equal intervals apart.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. xv. 226 Nothing lost, or out of order; not a picket loose in the fence, not a particle of litter in the turfy yard.
1929 H. A. A. Nicholls & J. H. Holland Text-bk. Trop. Agric. (ed. 2) ii. ii. 119 The next thing is to line it out, pickets or stakes being placed at each spot that is to be occupied by a coffee tree.
1953 Sun (Baltimore) 15 June 20/2 The fence pickets protrude 6 to 10 inches out of the sand.
1994–5 Do it Yourself Winter 63/3 Determine how many pickets will fit between the posts.
b. North American. A fence or barrier made of these; a stockade. Now rare.
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society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > palisade or stockade > [noun]
shide-wallc1000
barrierc1380
peel?a1400
bails1523
palisade1588
stockado1608
stockade1614
fraise1775
picket1779
estacade1827
zariba1849
boma1860
1779 T. Jefferson Let. 27 Mar. in Papers (1950) II. 241 The barracks..have four springs..one within twenty yards of the picket..and they propose to sink wells within the piquet.
1833 C. F. Hoffman Let. 25 Nov. in Winter in West (1835) I. 114 The river on one side, and the high picket on the other, would have hedged the remainder in.
1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians I. xi. 81 The piquet is composed of timbers..eighteen feet high, set firmly in the ground at sufficient distances from each other to admit of guns and other missiles to be fired between them.
1896 J. McDougall Saddle, Sled & Snowshoe xi. 125 We took out a large number of tamarac logs to make a strong, high picket around the mission house.
2. A form of punishment in which the offender was made to rest the weight of the body on one foot while standing on the top of a peg or stake; the stake used for such a punishment. Now historical.In use as a military punishment between the 16th and 18th centuries.
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society > authority > punishment > torture > instrument or place of torture > [noun] > picket
picket1690
1690 Royal Proclam. in W. Starke Obsolete Mil. Punishments (1901) 5 If a trooper he shall stand three several times on the Picquett.
1702 Mil. Dict. (at cited word) To stand upon the Picket, which is to have one hand ty'd up as high as it can stretch, as he stands upon his Toes of one Foot, upon a little Stake drove into the Ground for that purpose; so that they neither stand nor hang; nor can they change Feet to ease themselves.
1745 D. Bradstreet Diary 5 July (1897) 23 Cpl Lakin Ordered Stephen Barron To Guard ye Arms and he Told him To Kiss his ass for which he was Ordered to Ride the Pickets an hour.
1806 M. Edgeworth Leonora II. xlvi. 27 If I put a poor fellow on the picket.
1843 R. R. Madden United Irishmen 2nd Ser. II. xvi. 353 The tortures of the lash, the picquet and the knotted cord.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XXI. at Picket The ‘picket’ was a form of military punishment in vogue in the 16th and 17th centuries, which consisted in the offender being forced to stand on the narrow flat top of a peg for a period of time.
1940 Jrnl. Amer. Mil. Inst. 4 234 That the punishment should be a little more severe, Joseph Snyder was sentenced to wear a gag during his allotted time on a picket.
3. In extended uses.† a. A peg, pin, or plug. Obsolete. rare.
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the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > [noun] > closure for a vessel, tube, etc. > a bung or plug
bungc1440
tampiona1475
peg1593
plug1618
picket1868
1868 C. B. Norton & W. J. Valentine Rep. to Govt. U.S. on Munitions of War at Paris Universal Exhib. 1867 14 (Boxer ammunition) The bullet has a picket of wood running through its centre half-way from the apex of the cone towards the base.
1868 C. B. Norton & W. J. Valentine Rep. to Govt. U.S. on Munitions of War at Paris Universal Exhib. 1867 16 The bullet, as in the Boxer, has the wooden picket through half its longer axis, and the clay plug in the base for expansion.
b. Surveying. A mark left as an indicator when making measurements, a benchmark. rare.
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1873 Ocean Highways Jan. 328/1 Parties of Surveyors..trace out and chain the sides of the minor triangles,..leaving ground-marks or ‘piquets’ at the points which may be most convenient for starting afterwards with the internal lines of the survey.
1933 N.E.D. Suppl. at Picket sb.1 Picket... a triangular or arrow-shaped mark cut in turf or placed on masonry, used in making measurements.
II. A body of soldiers, strikers, etc.
4.
a. Military. A small detachment of troops, sent out to watch for the approach of the enemy (also as outlying picket), or held in quarters in readiness for such duty and to guard against sudden attack (also as inlying picket); any detachment of troops sent out to perform a particular duty. Also: a single soldier so employed. Cf. out-picquet n.Earliest in picket guard n. at Compounds 2.In the British Army Regulations spelt piquet.
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society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > group with special function or duty > [noun] > for guard duty > picket
safeguard1660
picket1702
picket guard1703
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > group with special function or duty > [noun] > for guard duty > guard with policing duties
picket1787
provost guard1864
main guard1876
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier with special duty > [noun] > guard > other specific guard
picket1787
1702 Perfection Mil. Discipline (ed. 4) 147 As to the Piquet; it is a Detachment of Men, who are always near the General, ready to Execute whatsover he Commands them.
1727 H. Bland Treat. Mil. Discipline xv. 213 When the Piquet is order'd to March, another is immediately order'd to supply their Room.
1746 A. Stone Let. 24 Apr. in Corr. Dukes of Richmond & Newcastle (1984) 211 Three piquets of French surrendered themselves prisoners, amounting to about 300 Men.
1787 Gentleman's Mag. 57 ii. 1199/2 The piquets and double patroles abandoned their officers, and joined their mutinous comrades.
1844 Queen's Regulations & Orders Army 1 If an Officer's Tour of Duty happen when he is on the Inlying Piquet,..his Tour upon the Piquet is to pass him.
1861 E. L. Beers All Quiet along Potomac in Harper's Weekly 30 Nov. 466/1 Now and then, a stray picket Is shot as he walks on his beat to and fro.
1863 E. C. Gaskell Sylvia's Lovers III. ix. 156 The outlying pickets of the French army were within easy rifle shot.
1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 Oct. 9/1 A serious military riot..occurred in the streets of Aldershot..last evening... The military police and pickets had to be reinforced.
1918 W. Faulkner Let. 13 July in Thinking of Home (1992) 77 Three of us..were picked from the flock and set as pickets to Crawford St. barracks. We..were guards two hours and slept four, guards two more, and so on.
1968 P. Warner Sieges of Middle Ages v. 103 Pickets watched every approach road by night and by day.
1988 Daily Tel. 30 July (Weekend Suppl.) p. iv/4 You bring a piquet over from Wellington Barracks..then you relieve the Old Guard and mount the New.
1999 A. Mallinson Close Run Thing xvi. 291 ‘I have posted an inlying picket only, sir,’ said the lieutenant.
2001 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 13 Aug. 21 One day on the frontier Walker had to retrieve some dead Sepoys from an ambushed piquet, whose commander had disobeyed strict instructions.
b. Military colloquial. Short for picket duty n. at Compounds 1b.
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society > armed hostility > defence > action or duty of sentry or picket > [noun]
sentinel1585
sentry1639
sentinelship1643
picket1713
picket duty1764
lookout duty1831
sentry-go1880
sentry-going1901
sentry duty1917
1713 C. Shadwell Humours of Army i. 2 I was upon the Piquet, where, you know, Drinking hard is the main Part of the Duty.
1775 J. Hallam Let. 10 Dec. in H. P. Johnston Nathan Hale (1901) 158 Your being on Picquet is a sufficient excuse that you wrote no more.
1792 Deb. Congr. U.S. (1849) App. 1131 He also remembered very well being on picket..when the first men arrived.
1834 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 3 167/2 For three weeks I have been on picquet every night.
1861 O. W. Norton Army Lett. (1903) 34 I have just returned from picket.
1899 Monthly S. Dakotan 1 159 An accidental discharge of a gun one night in the hands of a man on picket.
1944 J. S. Pennell Hist. Rome Hanks 41 You're on picket, aren't you?
1955 Army Act in Queen's Reg. Army (1975) §6.072 The minor punishments..which may be awarded by a commanding officer, are as follows:..Extra guards or picquets not exceeding 3 in number.
1988 W. D. Matter If it takes All Summer i. 15 A member of the 155th Pennsylvania of Ayres's brigade was in front on picket and was driven in by this Confederate advance.
c. figurative and in extended use. Now rare.
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the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > watching or keeping guard > [noun] > one who watches or keeps guard > body of
wardc1000
watchc1380
guarda1513
scout-watch1523
satellitium1616
vigilance1667
wait1704
picket1847
honour guard1851
1847 H. Miller First Impressions Eng. xiv. 252 Two insulated outliers, that..form the outer piquets of the newer and higher system.
1861 G. H. Kingsley in F. Galton Vacation Tourists & Trav. 1860 173 There, two miles off, are lying deer,..pickets of keen eyed and keener scented hinds thrown out in every direction.
1877 W. W. Fowler Woman on Amer. Frontier v. 99 The pioneers were the pickets of the army of civilization.
5. Usually in plural. A person or group of people stationed outside a workplace during a strike to try to dissuade workers from entering; (in extended use) a person or group of people conducting a similar protest or demonstration outside any premises. Also (in singular): the act of doing this, or the blockade so formed.flying picket: see flying picket at flying adj. 4j.
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society > occupation and work > worker > worker according to manner of working > [noun] > striking > picketing > collectively
picket1818
flying picket1974
1818 J. Norris Let. 29 Aug. (MS P.R.O. HO 42/179) f. 246v The men ordered to attend the mills in a morning..are called Pickets, & are for the very purpose of intimidating the hands going to work.
1867 Times 22 Aug. 8/3 The pickets kept their places from early morning till night;..they threatened that those who took work..should have none when the Union was triumphant.
1869 Pall Mall Gaz. 31 Aug. 1 We will assume..that they issue positive orders to the pickets to resort to nothing in the shape of coercion.
1891 Evening Chron. (Newcastle) 17 Jan. 4/1 To..prevent the pickets of the strikers from indulging in demonstrations against the loyal men.
1938 Sun (Baltimore) 7 Sept. 2/2 Patient parish pickets, determined to retain the Rev. Simon Borkowski as pastor of St. Barbara's Catholic Church, kept their vigil today.
1973 Freedom 12 May 4/4 (advt.) Stop the French tests. Regular picket, and London-Paris walk 14th May–3rd June.
1991 Canberra Times 31 Jan. 3/1 A 24-hour picket and union work bans had been lifted only hours before the kindergarten students arrived.
2002 J. Heskett Toothpicks & Logos iii. 50 A rumour..that the company was selling a racist product and banner-carrying pickets appeared outside its New York headquarters.
III. In Firearms.
6. Chiefly U.S. A kind of elongated rifle bullet with a conoidal front. Cf. picket ball n. at Compounds 2. Now rare (historical in later use). [See etymological note.]
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shell > bullet > types of bullet
pistol bullet?1591
musket bullet1598
musket ball1637
silver bullet1648
three-o(h)-three1683
pistol ball1689
musket shot1755
Biscayen1812
picket1848
rifle bolt1849
Minié ball1851
Minié1852
expanding bullet1859
navy bullet1873
two-two1895
dum-dum1897
Lee-Enfield bullet1899
rubber bullet1900
full-metal-jacket1913
round-nose1932
thirty-two1942
plastic bullet1945
baton round1968
1848 J. R. Chapman Instr. Young Marksmen (1976) i. ii. 48 In a little time, the superiority of the flat-ended picket will be perceived and acknowledged.
1858 J. Deane Man. Hist. & Sci. Fire-arms 263 A form of conical projectile used and called a ‘picket’ in the United States, and also used in several of the German states.
1888 R. Kipling Phantom 'Rickshaw (1889) 45 At the same moment a bullet dropped..close to Pornic's head. There was no mistaking the nature of the missile—a regulation Martini-Henry ‘picket’.
1901 T. F. Fremantle Bk. of Rifle 38 The pointed bullet with a flat base, known as a ‘flat-ended picket’.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XXI. at Picket In the middle of the 19th century, when elongated rifle bullets were a novelty, they were often, and especially in America, called pickets.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a. (In sense 1.)† picket strap n. Obsolete
picket fence n.
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the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > hedge or fence > a fence > a paling
palec1384
paling1558
impaling1598
paling fence?c1663
palisado pale1720
picketing1755
picket fence1777
1777 Ordinance in Ordinances Governor & Legislative Council Quebec (1795) 23 Standing picket fences shall..be permitted to remain.
1839 Knickerbocker Mag. 14 154 I determined to leap over the picket-fence and..take a nap on the dry, warm grass.
1991 Pract. Gardening Dec. 59/2 Classic picket fence, painted white, gives the authentic cottage garden look.
picket fort n.
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1775 R. J. Meigs Jrnl. in Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1814) 2nd Ser. I. 230 This fort consists of two large block houses, and a large barrack, which is enclosed with a picket fort.
1846 T. L. McKenney Mem. I. vi. 127 The old picket fort standing on the plain..quite a ruin.
1999 Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News (Florida) (Nexis) 27 Mar. d3 The center revolves around ‘Fort Hope’ and features a chuck wagon, teepee and picket fort.
picket gate n.
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1855 B. J. Lossing Our Countrymen 376 The writer reined up his horse at a little picket-gate in front of a neat residence in East Lexington.
1937 Amer. Home Apr. 106/2 A flagged path leads from a picket gate to broad, low steps.
2003 Tikkun (Nexis) 1 May 60 Through the thigh-high picket gate, its little tin bell tinkling as a warning against the (possible) intrusion of kidnappers.
picket machine n.
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1848 Sci. Amer. 21 Oct. 37/2 One of the best means of beautifying their homes is the design of the Picket Machine.
1868 Water-power of Maine (Maine Hydrogr. Surv.) 58 A saw mill, grist mill, shingle machine, picket machine and threshing machine on Purington stream.
1999 Amer. Industr. Hygiene Assoc. Jrnl. (Nexis) 60 The extremely high levels [of wood dust] observed at sawmills were due to..ineffectively ventilated machines (Dry Mill E, molder operator = 51 mg/m3; picket machine operator = 67 mg/ml).
picket rope n.
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1745 Mil. Dict. in Introd. Art Fortification sig. h3v At two Yards Distance from the Doors of their Tents, is a Rope called the Piquet Rope, stretched upon pointed Stakes, to which their Horses are tied.
1834 in New Mexico Hist. Rev. (1927) 3 298 The Acting Asst. Qr Master will have prepared a suitable number of wooden posts for the support of the Picket rope.
1961 C. Farrell Trail of Tattered Star xvi. 171 Mike ran down the line, slashing picket ropes with the bayonet.
2002 Denver Post (Nexis) 14 Apr. e2 Russell once helped Peggy round up cows, then gave her a pair of picket ropes to make her life a little easier.
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1872 S. W. Baker Nile Tributaries Abyssinia (new ed.) x. 165 Each horse was furnished with..a long leathern thong as a picket strap.
picket tent n.
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1849 Times 22 Jan. 5/5 Their picket tents were still standing on an intrenched piece of ground, but their picket had retired across the river.
1997 Akron (Ohio) Beacon Jrnl. (Nexis) 10 May d1 The only visible reminder of the strike by 12,000 hourly workers outside were [sic] patches of faded grass where picket tents had stood.
picket work n.
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1774 J. Entick Compl. Hist. Late War (ed. 6) 254 No other defence than a regular piquet-work on its summit, with loop-holes for musketry.
1842 Amer. Pioneer 1 236 This horn-work, as well as the fort itself, was a mere stockade or picket work.
1997 Community Express (Austral.) (Nexis) 29 Oct. Montrose man Stephen Fisher hopes to develop a good reputation for his picket work (of the fencing kind).
b. (In senses 4 and 5.)
picket duty n.
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society > armed hostility > defence > action or duty of sentry or picket > [noun]
sentinel1585
sentry1639
sentinelship1643
picket1713
picket duty1764
lookout duty1831
sentry-go1880
sentry-going1901
sentry duty1917
society > armed hostility > military service > [noun] > military duty > type of duty
guard1596
picket duty1764
fatigue1776
light duty1810
fatigue-work1846
fatigue duty1856
stable1885
skirt duty1922
staff-work1923
1764 W. Guthrie Reply to Counter-address 14 Tired of the routine of picket duty, and the parade of lucrative German campaigns.
1847 J. J. Oswandel Notes Mexican War (1885) vi. 319 I tried to be relieved to go with the expedition, but the officer of the day would not let me off, saying that picket-duty was one of the most important stations in the department.
1925 Woman's World (Chicago) Apr. 51/2 David had been doing general picket-duty outside, so I knew if there was an escape it would not be without a struggle.
1992 Herald (Glasgow) 16 Nov. 3/5 They were trying to avoid police roadblocks while on picket duty in the miners' strike.
picket man n.
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1770 tr. C. H. Manstein Mem. Russia 222 Three regiments of foot, two of dragoons, four hundred of the picquet men, and some light troops.
1862 in Southern Hist. War (Confederate States Amer. War Dept.) (1864) 479 I detailed one hundred picket men, ten from each company, to go as a fatigue party.
1867 Times 23 Aug. 9/2 Many of the picket men had behaved illegally.
1966 Times 1 Mar. 10/4 Members of the former union..found about 50 picket men from the rival union parading outside the work site.
2000 TASS (Nexis) 12 Dec. The picket-men carried placards inscribed: ‘We are not slaves’.
picket system n.
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1866 Sat. Rev. 20 July 59 The victims of the picket system are..men who are outside the pale of the Trades Unions.
1936 Times 15 Oct. 14/2 The deciding factor in controlling the activities of the armed bands was the picket system instituted by Brigadier Evetts.
2002 Pakistan Newswire (Nexis) 30 May The meeting discussed the revival of picket system for checking the violations of KPTS buses.
picket trench n.
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1870 S. P. Bates Hist. Pennsylvania Volunteers III. 293 The line again went forward across the plain, captured the outer picket trenches and charged up a second hill.
1998 Washington Times (Nexis) 26 Sept. b3 Terry's men retired to a captured Confederate picket trench a short distance in the rear.
C2.
picket ball n. now historical a kind of elongated rifle bullet; = 6.
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1848 Southern Literary Messenger Apr. 519 The weapon which our author recommends..is of the calibre of 70, or carrying about a half-ounce picket-ball.
1964 H. L. Peterson Encycl. Firearms 69/1 In sporting rifles in America a flat-based ball of nearly conical section called a Picket ball was popular [in the 1850s].
picket boat n. a vessel used for reconnoitring, or scouting in advance of the fleet, or on a river in military operations.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [noun] > look-out or reconnaissance vessel
spy-boat1637
guard-ship1689
station ship1693
scout-ship1694
guard-boat1696
scout1706
lookout1761
lookout ship1762
watch-boat1789
patrol boat1854
spy-ship1858
picket boat1861
picket launch1864
scout vessel1869
vedette boat1884
picket ship1898
coastal1912
P boat1917
spotter1931
radar picket1945
1861 E. A. Duyckinck National Hist. War for Union 428/2 Captain Case immediately reported the fact to the President and secretary of war, who received the confirmation of the picket boats with great satisfaction.
1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 13 June 28 On the far side of the harbour, was the dockyard, with its cranes and bustling tugs and picket boats.
1987 in J. McPhee Control of Nature (1989) 87 Kent is a picket boat... Kent's job is to catch, hold, and assist any vessel in trouble.
picket bullet n. now historical = picket ball n.
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1848 J. R. Chapman Instr. Young Marksmen (1976) i. ii. 48 In this weapon I use a flat-ended picket bullet, with 1¾ inches of powder.
1998 Muzzle Blasts Online (National Muzzle Loading Rifle Assoc.) June–July The muzzle is lathe-turned for a guide bullet starter to facilitate the use of a picket bullet.
picket-clamp n. rare a clamp for holding the pickets of a fence while they are being dressed to shape.
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1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1698/1 Picket-clamp.
picket guard n. Military an inlying picket; a picket protecting a position; a member of such a picket; (also) picket duty.
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society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > group with special function or duty > [noun] > for guard duty > picket
safeguard1660
picket1702
picket guard1703
1703 London Gaz. No. 3923/2 Our Piquet Guard was..ordered out to attack them.
1750 H. Snell Female Soldier 56 She was put on the Picquet Guard.
1862 W. T. Truxtun Let. 13 June in I. Berlin et al. Free at Last (1992) 53 Throwing out a picket guard,..I satisfied myself that the enemy were not in our immediate neighborhood.
1883 Reno (Nevada) Weekly Gaz. 23 Aug. 8/1 The Apaches made an attack on the village of Nacori..and killed five picket guards.
1916 Coshocton (Ohio) Morning Tribune 13 Feb. 7/5 A picket guard of Bulgarians stationed to prevent any communication between the French and English and the Serbians.
2002 Daily Mail (Nexis) 3 May 50 As what was left of the French army struggled on to Vilnius from the Beresina, troops froze to death as they stood picket guard.
picket header n. now rare a machine for pointing the pickets of a fence.
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1883 E. Ingersoll in Harper's Mag. Jan. 208/2 Planers, shingle machines, picket headers.
1908 Daily Gaz. & Bull. (Williamsport, Pa.) 20 Mar. 6/7 (advt.) For sale–One Clark band mill,..with edger, trimmer, cut-offs, lath mill, picket header.
picket house n. (a) Military (in a garrison) the building where a picket is stationed; (b) a house made from pickets or posts.
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1830 Times 2 June 2/5 They have..block-houses, made musket-proof, which..will be used as redoubts or picket-houses.
1847 Alton (Illinois) Tel. & Democratic Rev. 5 Mar. The town..had only a few small picket houses, of which none were large enough to store the cargoes of the barges.
1901 Westm. Gaz. 14 Mar. 6/1 A draft of about fifty men..in Guernsey..attacked the picquet house on the pier at St. Peter's Port.
1981 E. Kelton Eyes of Hawk (2001) 42 Some who had been there longer had built picket houses, copied after the style of Mexican jacales, but these..had been poor shelter against the elements.
picket launch n. = picket boat n.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [noun] > look-out or reconnaissance vessel
spy-boat1637
guard-ship1689
station ship1693
scout-ship1694
guard-boat1696
scout1706
lookout1761
lookout ship1762
watch-boat1789
patrol boat1854
spy-ship1858
picket boat1861
picket launch1864
scout vessel1869
vedette boat1884
picket ship1898
coastal1912
P boat1917
spotter1931
radar picket1945
1864 in Official Rec. Union & Confed. Navies in War of Rebellion (1900) (U.S. Naval War Rec. Office) 1st Ser. 10 610 I sent Lieutenant Cushing on the 17th of October, with picket launch No.1, to blow up the ram Albemarle.
1899 Harper's Mag. Apr. 732/1 At night also picket-launches ran in less than a mile from the shore.
1957 Times 19 June 4/2 The body of a man..found by a naval picket launch two and a half miles south of Guernsey.
picket pointer n. = picket header n.
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1872 Classified Index of Subj. of Invention (U.S. Patent Office) 274/1 (table) Subject... Picket-pointers. Name of class—official classification... Wood-working.
1994 Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) (Nexis) 29 Sept. b2 Reported Friday by Safety Fence Systems,..$3,500 picket pointer woodworking machine taken from storage lot overnight.
picket ship n. = picket boat n.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [noun] > look-out or reconnaissance vessel
spy-boat1637
guard-ship1689
station ship1693
scout-ship1694
guard-boat1696
scout1706
lookout1761
lookout ship1762
watch-boat1789
patrol boat1854
spy-ship1858
picket boat1861
picket launch1864
scout vessel1869
vedette boat1884
picket ship1898
coastal1912
P boat1917
spotter1931
radar picket1945
1898 Daily News 9 May 6/3 It is supposed..that the Spanish fleet was probably following its picket ship.
1955 Bull. Atomic Scientists Jan. 31/3 Picket ships and patrol planes meet the special requirements of some of the sea approaches.
2002 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 17 Nov. 1/3 All the while, the Nassau had armed helicopters flying and picket ships at sea to fend off a terrorist attack.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† picketn.2
British regional. Obsolete. rare.
The common tern, Sterna hirundo.
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1813 G. Montagu Suppl. Ornithol. Dict. at Tern—Common Provincial [names]. Kirmew, Picket, Tarney, or Pictarne, Tarrack, or Tarret, Rittock, or Rippock, Spurre, Scraye.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
picketv.
/ˈpɪkɪt/, U.S. /ˈpɪkᵻt/ 1.
a. transitive. To tether (a horse, etc.) to a picket or peg fixed in the ground.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > general equipment > [verb (transitive)] > tether
renewc1450
tether1483
stake1544
picket1729
headline1800
flit1816
hang1835
to rack up1843
bail1846
to hang up1858
bush1871
manger1905
1729 J. Braithwaite Hist. Revol. in Morocco 127 The Moors kept a good Guard all Night, and did not unsaddle their Horses, but picketted them before the Tent Doors.
1799 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 89 52 The female was picketed by one leg, and the young one, to which she was giving suck, was tied to a tree at some distance.
1814 W. Scott Waverley II. xxiii. 354 Their horses, saddled and picquetted behind them. View more context for this quotation
1857 D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. S. Afr. vii. 138 The goat is picketed to a stake in the bottom [of a pit].
1868 Queen's Regulations & Orders Army §872 The guards of the Cavalry will be mounted, and the horses picketed.
1930 W. M. Mann Wild Animals in & out of Zoo xv. 191 [They] picketed him to a tree until they could build a small corral.
1974 ‘B. Mather’ White Dacoit ii. 22 They halted and off-saddled and picqueted the horses half a mile downstream.
2001 A. M. Jones Last Year's River 111 He pickets his horses in the snow,..tying each of them off by a hind foot.
b. transitive. To enclose or surround with pickets, to palisade; (also) to fence in, fix down, etc., by means of pickets, to secure with pickets. Now rare.
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society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > palisade or stockade > [verb (transitive)]
palisade1632
stacket1637
stockado1647
fraise1706
picket1745
stockade1755
zariba1885
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > enclose [verb (transitive)] > with a fence or hedge
haya1050
frith1377
hain14..
hedgea1425
fence1435
tinec1440
bara1500
mound1515
fence1535
teen1616
mile1655
picket1745
ring-fence1761
zariba1885
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > fastening > fasten [verb (transitive)] > with stake
stake1621
speek1644
prick1647
pale1703
skewer1781
picket1847
skiver1888
1745 Jrnl. Siege Louisburg in W. Shirley Let. (1746) 18 A Blockhouse..picketted without, and defended by eight Cannon.
1830 J. McCall in Wisconsin Hist. Coll. (1872) XII. 183 The fort is handsomely situated on the west side of the river. Picketed in with cedar posts 12 feet high.
1847 Nation. Cycl. I. 10 The trees are picketed to the ground.
1884 Instr. Mil. Engin. (ed. 3) I. ii. 55 The hides are laid on the ground and picketed firmly down; the sandbags are then built up..to such a height as to allow each hide to be drawn well over the top row and round the ends, which are then picketed into the parapet.
1991 D. Piggott Gliding Safety (BNC) 20 Parking the aircraft facing down wind will be safest... In lighter winds they can be picketed out, facing into wind with the wings level.
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society > authority > punishment > torture > [verb (transitive)] > impale or picket
impale1613
picket1730
1730 Acts Assembly Charibbee Leeward Islands 141 If private Soldiers shall be unable to pay their Fine, they shall ride the Horse, be piquetted or tied Neck and Heels for One Hour.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy V. xxi. 86 I would be picquetted to death, cried the corporal,..before I would suffer the woman to come to any harm.
1801 Times 24 Mar. 2/2 There was one man who had been picketed, and subjected to various other tortures.
1861 T. E. May Constit. Hist. Eng. (1863) II. xvi. 536 The wretched ‘croppies’ were scourged, pitch-capped, picketed..and shot.
3. Military.† a. intransitive. To post oneself as a picket, to act on picket duty. Obsolete.
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society > armed hostility > defence > action or duty of sentry or picket > act as sentry or picket [verb (intransitive)]
sentinel1593
to stand sentry1728
picket1775
sentry1910
to walk guard1930
1775 J. Brown in J. Sparks Corr. Amer. Revol. (1853) I. 462 They have intrenched and picketed out some distance from their other works.
1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 154 To encamp and picket expeditiously.
b. transitive. To post (soldiers, etc.) as a picket; (also) to occupy, watch, or guard as a picket. Also figurative and in extended use.
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society > armed hostility > defence > action or duty of sentry or picket > guard as sentry [verb (transitive)] > post as sentry or picket
picket1778
sentinel1827
1778 Orig. Paper. Coroner's Inquest Madras 91 He observed some of the Nabob's cavalry picketted between the house of Major Horne and the house where Mr. Monckton..resided.
1845 D. Boucicault Old Heads & Young Hearts ii. 20 Lady A. Where's Kate? Roc. I picqueted her in the hall with the baggage.
1863 T. T. Ellis Leaves Diary Army Surgeon 303 The Virginia side of the river continues to be picketed by the enemy.
1880 W. H. Dixon Royal Windsor (ed. 3) IV. xxii. 201 These men were picketed in the town.
1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xliii. 557 I picketed the great embankments..—merely a lookout of a couple of boys to announce the enemy when he should appear again.
1988 W. Thesiger Life of My Choice (BNC) 124 It took us over an hour..to get through this pass, a notorious place for ambushes. Some of my men picketed the high ground while we passed underneath.
4.
a. transitive. In an industrial or other dispute: to surround or occupy as a picket; to station pickets at or in (a place); to patrol with pickets.
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society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > participate in labour relations [verb (transitive)] > summon (workers) to strike > break (strike) > molest with pickets
picket1787
1787 Proc. & Debates House of Commons Ireland VII. 353 As to men distraining for tithe, or picketting the farmer, as had been asserted, if any such thing was done,..it was not done under the law of tithes.
1867 Times 22 Aug. 11/1 His employer's shop was picketed by about two or three men in the morning.
1936 Time 7 Dec. Twelve women and forty-five men, picketing the Berkshire Knitting Mills in Reading, Pennsylvania, by lying flat on its ice-covered front walk..were arrested.
1968 Economist 16 Mar. 48/3 Some 1,500 white residents..picketed a meeting of the Board of Education.
1995 Daily Mail 2 Jan. 2/2 About 50 demonstrators picketed Swansea airport yesterday.
b. intransitive. To act as a picket in a dispute or demonstration.
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society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > participate in labour relations [verb (intransitive)] > strike > strike-break > act as picket
picket1867
1867 Times 22 Aug. 11/1 He recognized the defendants..in company with others, picketing daily.
1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? viii. 156 Wilson ought to picket in front of Sammy's office... Sammy Glick Is Unfair to Organized Double-Crossers!
1977 Times 27 June 2/5 Six strikers..were picketing near the main gates.
1991 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 12 Nov. a9/4 A group of ferry workers, angry over the prospect of losing their jobs,..picketed in front of the town hall.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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