Meanings
plural picket lines
- raregovernmentA barrier or fortification formed by pickets; a stockade.
- A boundary created by workers participating in a strike, generally at the workplace entrance, which other workers are asked not to pass.
RMT union members form a picket line outside Birmingham New Street on July 27, as part of a national dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.
2022 August 10, “Network News: RMT's Lynch raises the prospect of a General Strike”, in RAIL, number 963, page 7, photo caption
Origin
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.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish rajatolppa, lakkovartio
- rajatolppaboundary guarded by a unit of soldiers
- lakkovartioboundary created by workers participating in a strike
Italian recinto con corda e picchetti, palizzata
- recinto con corda e picchettiline or rope held by pickets
- palizzataboundary guarded by a unit of soldiers
- picchetto di scioperantiboundary created by workers participating in a strike
Spanish piquete
- piqueteboundary created by workers participating in a strike
Welsh llinell biced
- llinell bicedboundary created by workers participating in a strike
Cite this entry
picket line. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/picket%20line
“picket line.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/picket%20line. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “picket line,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/picket%20line.
Source: picket line on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.