From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpicketpick‧et1 /ˈpɪkɪt/ noun [countable] 1 BEL 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) BELa person or the group of people involved in a picket The pickets persuaded some drivers not to enter the factory. → flying picket2 PMAa soldier or a group of soldiers with the special duty of guarding a military camp He’s on picket duty tonight.
Examples from the Corpus
picket• Pro-choice supporters donate money to the clinic for each picket who shows up.• Her abrupt removal from the campus sparked student sit-ins and early morning pickets in front of the school.• Protesters staged a noisy picket in front of the hotel where the governor spoke.• Who now remembers the second Clairol blowing from the picket fence?• She was down at the scene of the picket.• When he tapped the top of the picket, it creaked sideways and the chain popped loose.• Things are quiet on the picket line on this Sunday afternoon.• On the picket lines themselves, the police made uncompromising use of the discretion available to them under public-order law.• Frank laid out the picket signs on the sidewalk, but nobody wanted to pick them up.• I learned how to untie the rope and would push my brother over this picket fence.mass picket• There was also a mass picket by supporters outside the Home Office.• Further violent demonstrations by mass pickets led to £525,000 additional fines being imposed.• In Nottinghamshire and adjacent Warwickshire and Leicestershire, pits continued to operate, despite physical intimidation by mass pickets.• Sit-ins, sit-downs, mass picketing.• Events at this picket were to shape the character of the next major mass picket of Hadfields on 12 March.• However, on 18 June, a secretly organised mass picket caught the police momentarily off guard.picketpicket2 verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]BELPROTEST 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 miners2 [transitive]PMA to place soldiers around or near a place as guards —picketing noun [uncountable] The new law will still allow peaceful picketing.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
picket• The opening of the penal unit inspired protests and picketing by neighbors in the surrounding neighborhood.• His own firm had been picketed for the last five months in a dispute over the use of new technology.• Even so, the unions' power to strike and picket remained substantial.• More than 1,200 teachers picketed that day.• Publishers were afraid of feminists picketing the bookstores.• Black demonstrators picketed the court throughout the trial, alleging that the prosecution of the youths was tantamount to a judicial lynching.• Union members have picketed the department store since it opened.• In a phone message to a friend, Siegel also threatened to picket the home of a prominent gay philanthropist.• So are all the guys planning to picket the museum today.From Longman Business DictionaryLBED_26_apicketpick‧et /ˈpɪkɪt/ noun [countable]1 (also picket line) a group of people who stand in front of a shop, factory, or other building to protest about something or to stop people from going to work during a STRIKEa picket on the steps of the Federal court buildingWorkers refused to cross a picket line to unload the fish.2 (also picketer American English) one person in a picket lineThe pickets persuaded some drivers not to enter the factory. —picket verb [intransitive, transitive]Labor unions picketed the plant, protesting at the use of non-union workers.250 students will be picketing at the college.Origin picket1 (1600-1700) French piquet, from piquer “to prick” 