# picket line

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpɪkɪt laɪn/

## Definitions
1. A line or rope held by one or many pickets, chiefly one used for tethering horses.
2. A barrier or fortification formed by pickets; a stockade.
3. A boundary guarded by a picket (unit of soldiers).
4. A boundary created by workers participating in a strike, generally at the workplace entrance, which other workers are asked not to pass.

## Etymology
From picket (“stake driven into the ground; soldier or small unit of soldiers assigned to perform a duty; protester positioned outside a workplace, etc., during a strike; the protest itself”) + line.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/picket-line