-picke-

n. 1. The state of being sharpened; pointedness. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fineness; spruceness; smartness. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Too much pickedness is not manly. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Pickeered p. pr. & vb. n. Pickeering. ] [ F. picorer to go marauding, orig., to go to steal cattle, ultimately fr. L. pecus, pecoris, cattle; cf. F. picorée, Sp. pecorea robbery committed by straggling soldiers. ] To make a raid for booty; to maraud; also, to skirmish in advance of an army. See Picaroon. [ Obs. ] Bp. Burnet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who pickeers. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Pick. ] 1. One who, or that which, picks, in any sense, -- as, one who uses a pick; one who gathers; a thief; a pick; a pickax; as, a cotton picker. “Pickers and stealers.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mach.) A machine for picking fibrous materials to pieces so as to loosen and separate the fiber. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Weaving) The piece in a loom which strikes the end of the shuttle, and impels it through the warp. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Ordnance) A priming wire for cleaning the vent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Dim. of Pike. ] [ Written also pickerell. ] 1. A young or small pike. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Bet [ better ] is, quoth he, a pike than a pickerel. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) (a) Any one of several species of freshwater fishes of the genus Esox, esp. the smaller species. (b) The glasseye, or wall-eyed pike. See Wall-eye. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The federation, or chain, pickerel (Esox reticulatus) and the brook pickerel (Esox Americanus) are the most common American species. They are used for food, and are noted for their voracity. About the Great Lakes the pike is called pickerel. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pickerel weed (Bot.), a blue-flowered aquatic plant (Pontederia cordata) having large arrow-shaped leaves. So called because common in slow-moving waters where pickerel are often found. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Probably a corruption of Pickerel. ] (Zool.) The sauger of the St.Lawrence River. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Pick to steal; or perhaps from Pickeer. ] Petty theft. [ Scot. ] Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A pointed pale, used in marking fences. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. [ Probably so called from the picketing of the horses. ] (Mil.) A detached body of troops serving to guard an army from surprise, and to oppose reconnoitering parties of the enemy; -- called also outlying picket. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A military punishment, formerly resorted to, in which the offender was forced to stand with one foot on a pointed stake. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A game at cards. See Piquet. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]