I. pick ‧ et 1 /ˈpɪkət, ˈpɪkɪt/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: French ; Origin: piquet , from piquer 'to prick' ]
1 .
a) when a group of people stand or march in front of a shop, factory, government building etc to protest about something or to stop people from going in during a ↑ strike :
There was a mass picket (=one involving a lot of people) by students outside the main office of the university.
picket of
They organized a picket of the power station.
b) a person or the group of people involved in a picket:
The pickets persuaded some drivers not to enter the factory.
⇨ ↑ flying picket
2 . a soldier or a group of soldiers with the special duty of guarding a military camp:
He’s on picket duty tonight.
II. picket 2 BrE AmE verb
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to stand or march in front of a shop, factory, government building etc to protest about something or to stop people from going in during a ↑ strike :
Protesters are still picketing outside the White House gates.
a group of picketing miners
2 . [transitive] to place soldiers around or near a place as guards
—picketing noun [uncountable] :
The new law will still allow peaceful picketing.