picket

«picket» in Mova's school dictionary: A pointed wooden stake, used in a fence: a «picket fence» — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a picket, pickets); verb (picket, pickets, picketed, picketing)

meaning for a pupil

1) A pointed wooden stake, used in a fence: a «picket fence». tree →

2) (work) A group of workers on strike who stand outside their workplace to protest and ask others not to go in: a «picket line». tree →

3) (verb) To stand outside a place to protest. tree →

4) (old, army) A small group of soldiers on guard. tree →

5) To picket an animal means to tie it to a stake for the night. tree →

sense in the lessons

In adult-life lessons pickets appear when workers strike for fair pay: «Don't cross the picket line.» In stories and in the USA, a white picket fence stands for a neat family home. Phrases: «picket line», «white picket fence», «cross a picket line», «on the picket line».

examples

• The house has a white picket fence. tree →
• The nurses stood on the picket line in the cold. tree →
• Workers picketed the factory gates. tree →
• Mum said she would not cross the picket line. tree →
• The picket held signs asking for fair pay. tree →
• One picket in the fence was broken. tree →
• “Yes,” said Two Tails, with a laugh all up his trunk. “I’m picketed for the night. tree →

note

Countable noun; regular verb (picketed, picketing; one t). «Picket line» is the line of striking workers. Not to be confused with «pickle» or «ticket».

In the corpora

• There are also ways workers stand up for themselves: unions, strikes, picket lines and tribunals.
• A picket line is striking workers standing outside their workplace with signs, peacefully asking others not to go in.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «picket» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.