picket
pick·et/ˈpɪkɪt/noun, verb
picket is spelled P-I-C-K-E-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables (pick·et). It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, picket means “A stake driven into the ground” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of picket is pickets.
How many letters and syllables are in picket?
| Letters | 6: P-I-C-K-E-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: pick·et |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,356th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is picket?
Picket appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce picket?
- US /ˈpɪkɪt/
Picket has 2 syllables, split pick·et in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-picket.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with picket
Also written: piquet.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with picket?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as picket from its last stressed vowel (/ɪkɪt/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of picket
- pickets plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- picketing participle, present
- picketting participle, present, rare
- picketed participle, past
- picketted participle, past, rare
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does picket mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A stake driven into the ground.
a picket fence
- 2
A type of punishment by which an offender had to rest his or her entire body weight on the top of a small stake.
- 3
A tool in mountaineering that is driven into the snow and used as an anchor or to arrest falls.
- 4
One of the soldiers or troops placed on a line forward of a position to warn against an enemy advance; or any unit (for example, an aircraft or ship) performing a similar function.
- 5
A sentry.
- 6
A protester positioned outside an office, workplace etc. during a strike (usually in plural); also the protest itself.
Pickets normally endeavor to be non-violent.
- 7
The card game piquet.
verb
- 1
To protest, organized by a labour union, typically in front of the location of employment.
- 2
To enclose or fortify with pickets or pointed stakes.
- 3
To tether to, or as if to, a picket.
to picket a horse
- 4
To guard, as a camp or road, by an outlying picket.
- 5
obsoleteTo torture by forcing to stand with one foot on a pointed stake.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Picket in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | piquet , planton |
| German | Pfosten, Pfahl, Zaunlatte, Latte , Vorposten , Streikposten |
| Spanish | piquetear |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does picket come from?
From French piquet, from piquer (“to pierce”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).