picket

Definitions

• A stake driven into the ground.
• (historical) A type of punishment by which an offender had to rest his or her entire body weight on the top of a small stake.
• A tool in mountaineering that is driven into the snow and used as an anchor or to arrest falls.
• (military) 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.
• (sometimes) A sentry.
• A protester positioned outside an office, workplace etc. during a strike (usually in plural); also the protest itself.
• (card games) The card game piquet.