picketed
simple past tense and past participle of picket
Source: Wiktionary
Pick"et, n. Etym: [F. piquet, properly dim. of pique spear, pike. See Pike, and cf. Piquet.]
1. A stake sharpened or pointed, especially one used in fortification and encampments, to mark bounds and angles; or one used for tethering horses.
2. A pointed pale, used in marking fences.
3. Etym: [Probably so called from the picketing of the horses.] (Mil.)
Definition: A detached body of troops serving to guard an army from surprise, and to oppose reconnoitering parties of the enemy; -- called also outlying picket.
4. By extension, men appointed by a trades union, or other labor organization, to intercept outsiders, and prevent them from working for employers with whom the organization is at variance. [Cant]
5. A military punishment, formerly resorted to, in which the offender was forced to stand with one foot on a pointed stake.
6. A game at cards. See Piquet. Inlying picket (Mil.), a detachment of troops held in camp or quarters, detailed to march if called upon.
– Picket fence, a fence made of pickets. See def. 2, above.
– Picket guard (Mil.), a guard of horse and foot, always in readiness in case of alarm.
– Picket line. (Mil.) (a) A position held and guarded by small bodies of men placed at intervals. (b) A rope to which horses are secured when groomed.
– Picketpin, an iron pin for picketing horses.
Pick"et, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Picketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Picketing.]
1. To fortify with pointed stakes.
2. To inclose or fence with pickets or pales.
3. To tether to, or as to, a picket; as, to picket a horse.
4. To guard, as a camp or road, by an outlying picket.
5. To torture by compelling to stand with one foot on a pointed stake. [Obs.]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
19 April 2025
(verb) grasp with the mind or develop an understanding of; “did you catch that allusion?”; “We caught something of his theory in the lecture”; “don’t catch your meaning”; “did you get it?”; “She didn’t get the joke”; “I just don’t get him”
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
