pickerel 
darker streaks combining in a reticulated pattern. 
4474 
It is picket-clamp (pik'et-klamp), . A device for 
found chiefly in the .Mississippi Valley The bunded pick- *hold"injr"pai"es while they are being dressed to 
erel, E. ainencanut, is similar, with about twenty black- , if u v m -,,T,t 
ish transverse bare. It is the smallest of the genus, and suape. A. U. Amgilt. 
is found chiefly in streams near the coast from Massachll- picketec (pik-e-te ), . Same as picotee. 
setts to Georgia. The so-called northern pickerel is the picket-fence (pik'et-fens')) A fence formed 
true pike, if. ivehu. o f pickets or narrow vertical boards, often 
3 A pike-perch or sauger: a commercial name Doil f ted . nailed at close i nterva l s to cross-bars 
of the dressed fish. See Sttzostedion. 4. A 
small wading bird, as a stint, a purre, or a dun- 
lin. [Scotch.] Brook-pickerel, the Esox america- 
. Gray pickerel, the ftt.izc>stedio,i raf/rimi, Little 
pickerel, the western trout-pickerel, Exox vennicidattts. 
- Marsh-pickerel, Esnx aiarrirauus. Pond-pickerel, 
pointed, nailed at close intervals to cross-bars 
or rails supported by posts, into which they are 
often mortised. 
ticket-guard (pik'et-gard), n. Milit., a guard 
of. horse and foot kept in readiness in case of 
Marsh-pickerel, E>X auirrwaiuus. Pond-pickerel, alarm. 
Eiax reticulatm. Trout-pickerel, the banded pickerel, picket-line (pik'et-Hn), n. 1. A position held 
aftjomnicnmw.-yaried pickerel, Esox amerieauw.- *%! an a dvance-guard of men stationed at con- 
siderable intervals. 2. A rope to which cav- 
alry and artillery horses are tied while being 
groomed. 
handsome erect herb common in shallow water, with picket-machine (pik'et-ma-shen''), n. A ma- 
arrow-head-shaped leaves, all but one from the root, and chine for cutting out and shaping pickets for 
a dense spike of blue flowers from a spathe-like bract fences 
2 - An y f various species of Potamogeton, or pi c ket-pin (pik'et-pin), H. A long iron pin with 
a swivel link at the top, used with a rope or 
you, some think pikes are i ar j at for picketing horses. 
m. Complete Angler, via. picket-pointer (pik'et-poin"ter), n. A machine 6. A troublesome child. 
A tumor on the back * dre f sing the g^j, o f fence-pickets ; a picket- 
machine. 
picket-rope (pik'et-rop), . 1. S&me &B picket- 
line, 2. 2. The rope with which an animal is 
tethered to a picket-piu. 
pickettail (pik'et-tal), . 
Yellow pickerel, the pike-perch, 
pickerel-weed (pik'e-rel-wed), . i. Any plant 
of the genus I'oittctli-i'iti, but chiefly P. cordata, 
of the eastern half of North America. It is 
Pickerel-weed, of which, I told you, some think pikes are 
bred. /. Walton, ~ 
pickeridge (pik'e-rij), n. 
of cattle ; wornil. 
Pickering (pik'e-ring), n. [A perversion of 
l>ickm-l.~\ 1. A pickerel. [Local, U. S.] 2. 
A percoid fish, the sauger, Stizostedion cana- 
tlcii.ie. 
pik'e-ri 
The pintail duck, 
1888 ' 
pickie (pik'i), 
occurring in 
cence. 
picker-motion (pik'er-m6"shon), n. In weaving, 
the system of parts in a loom which have to do 
with operating the shuttle, including the pick- 
er-staff and its connections. 
pickeroont (pik-e-ron'), H, See picaroon!. 
picker-Staff (pik'er-staf), n. In weaving, a bar "Eng.] 
pivoted at one end and moved automatically picking (pik'ing), 
by the loom. The disconnected end, called the picker, 
strikes the shuttle with a sharp blow, sending it across the 
warp first in one direction and then in the other. 
pickeryt (pik'er-i), u. [Also piccory, piccorie ; 
< OF.picoree (= Sp.picorea), foraging, maraud- 
ing (picorer, forage, maraud), < Sp. picaro, a 
rogue: see picaro, picaroon 1 . Ct. pickeer.'] The 
stealing of trifles ; pilfering. 
For pickerie ducked at the yards arme, and so discharged 
Thomas Nash. llakluyt'i Voyages, I. 283. 
picket 1 (pik'et), n. [< OF. piquet, picquet, a 
little pickax, a peg, stake, F. piquet, a peg, 
stake, a tent-peg, a military picket, piquet (a 
game at cards) (= Sp. piqnete = It. picehetto), 
dim. of pique, etc., a pike: see pikei.] 1. A 
pointed post, stake, or bar, usually of wood. 
Specifically (a) A pointed stake used in military stock- 
ading, (o) A double-pointed stake used as a defense against 
cavalry, (c) One of a number of vertical pointed bare or 
narrow boards forming the main part of a fence, (d) A 
pointed stake used in surveying to hold the chain in its 
place by passing through an end ring, (e) A pointed stake 
used in tethering a horse in open country where there are 
A faultfinder. 
lick-hairedt (pik'hard), . Having thin, sparse 
hair. 
Pick-hair'd faces, chins like witches', 
Here and there five hairs whispering in a corner. 
Middleton, Changeling, ii. 1. 
Same as pickefi. [Prov. 
[Verbal n. of pick 1 , .] 
pickle-worm 
2. Vinegar, sometimes impregnated with spices, 
in which vegetables, fish, oysters, etc., are pre- 
served. 3. A thing preserved in pickle (in 
either of the above senses); specifically, a pick- 
led cucumber. 
A third sort of antiscorbuticks are called astringent, as 
capers and most of the common pickles prepared with 
vinegar. Arbuthnot, Aliments. 
4. In founding, a bath of dilute sulphuric acid, 
or, for brass, of dilute nitric acid, to remove the 
sand and impurities from the surface. E. H. 
Knight. 
When removed from the pickle, the gilding has the dull 
ochre appearance, and must be scratch-brushed. 
Gilder's Manual, p. 46. 
5. A state or condition of difficulty or disorder; 
a disagreeable position ; a plight. [Colloq.] 
How earnest thou in this pickle? 
Shak., Tempest, v. 1. 281. 
I am now in a fine pickle. 
B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iii. 5. 
But they proceed till one drops downe dead drunke, . . . 
And all the rest, in a sweet pickle brought, . . . 
Lie downe beside him. Times' Whistle (E. E. T. S.), p. 60. 
[Colloq.] 
Tummas was a pickle a perfect 'andful, and was took 
on by the butcher, and got hisself all dirtied over dread- 
ful. Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 140. 
To have a rod in pickle for one, to have a beating, 
flogging, or scolding in reserve for one. [Colloq.] 
pickle 2 (pik'l), v. t. ; pret. and pp. pickled, ppr. 
pickling. [Formerly s.\so pickel; = D.pekelen = 
LG. pekelen, pickle; from the noun.] 1. To 
preserve in pickle or brine ; treat with pickle ; 
also, to preserve or put up with vinegar, etc. : as, 
topicA'/ehe'rring; to pickle onions. 2. Toimbue 
highly with anything bad: as, a pickled rogue. 
Johnson. 3. To prepare, as an imitation, and 
sell as genuine; give an antique appearance to: 
said of copies or imitations of paintings by the 
old masters. Art Journal. 4. To subject, as 
various hardware articles, to the action of cer- 
tain chemical agents in the process of manu- 
facture. See pickle^, n., 4. 5. To treat with 
brine or pickle, as nets, to keep them from rot- 
ting. 
army to give notice of the approach of .__ 
my: called au outlying picket, (b) A detachment 
of troops in a camp kept fully equipped and 
ready for immediate service in case of an alarm 
or the approach of an enemy : called an inlying 
picket, (c) A small detachment of men sent 
out from a camp or garrison to bring in such 
of the soldiers as have exceeded their leave 
See guard, post, etc. 3. A body of men be- 
longing to a trades-union sent to watch and 
annoy men working in a shop not belonging to 
the union, or against which a strike is in pro- 
gress. 4f. A game at cards. See piquet. 5. 
A punishment which consists in making the of- 
fender stand with one foot on a pointed stake. 
-6. An elongated projectile pointed in front, 
oint may be conical, but is generally only conoidal, 
1. The act of one who picks, in any sense. 
2. In stone-working, same as dabbing, 1. 3. 
The final dressing or finishing of woven fabrics 
by going over the surface and removing burs Pickle 3 (pik'l), . [Also picle, pightle, pightel, 
and blemishes by hand, or retouching the color pitle; origin obscure. Cf. pingle.'] A small 
with dye by means of a camel's-hair pencil. piece of land inclosed with a hedge; an inclo- 
4. pi. That which one can pick up or off; any- sure > a close, 
thing left to be picked or gleaned. pickle-CUred^pik'l-kurd), a. Preserved in brine. 
as fish: distinguished from dry-salted or kench- 
cured. 
pickled (pik'ld), p. a. 1. Preserved in pickle. 
I could pick a little bit of pickled salmon, with a nice lit- 
tle sprig of fennel and a sprinkling of white pepper. 
Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, xxv. 
2. Briny. [Rare.] 
My pickled eyes did vent 
Full streams of briny tears, tears never to be spent 
Quarlei, Emblems, iv. 12. 
3f. Roguish. 
His poor boy Jack was the most comical bastard ha, 
ha, ha, ha, ha, a pickled dog ; I shall never forget him. 
Farquhar, Recruiting Officer, v. 4. 
There is a set of merry drolls, whom the common people 
of all countries admire, those circumforaneous wits whom 
every nation calls by the name of that dish of meat which 
it loves best. In Holland they are termed pickled herrings ; 
in France Jean Potages; in Italy macaronies ; and in Great 
Compared with the scanty pickittgs I had now and then 
been able to glean at Lowood, they [books] seemed to offer 
an abundant harvest of entertainment and information. 
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, xi. 
5. Pilfering; stealing; also, that which is ob- 
tained by petty pilfering; perquisites gotten 
by means not strictly honest. 
Heir or no heir, Lawyer Jermyn has had his picking out 
of the estate. George Eliot, Felix Holt, Int. 
6. Removing picks or defects in electrotype 
plates with the tools of an electrotype-finisher. 
7. pi. The pulverized shells of oysters, used 
; usually operated 
It is 
pickling. [ 
ling,pykelyn 
_ 
2. 
picket 1 (pik'et), v. t. [< picks ft, .] 1. To 
fortify with pickets or pointed stakes ; also, to 
inclose or fence with narrow pointed boards or 
pales. 2. To fasten to a picket or stake, as a 
se. 3. To torture by compelling to stand o A n t - 
with one foot on a pointed gtake.-C To place nickle^mk 
or post as a guard of observant, s Q &.*! Pi CJ "6 (piK 
or post as a guard of observation. See picket! 
n., 2. 5. To make into pickets. [Rare.] 
.JUTVj" ?""?* de ?' of encl >tment in a chestnut rail 
or pUMsi pme boards. Emerton, Farming. 
picket 2 (pik'et), n. 
rives the shuttle, 
cord. 
A picker-staff. 
. . iJ). pickled, ppr. 
_ ME. "pikelen, in verbal n. "pyke- 
ling, pykelynge, cleansing, freq. of piken, pikken, 
pick: eeepicki. Cf. pickle^.] I. trans. 1. To 
pick. Jamieson. 
The wren . . . 
Sodainly corns, and, hopping him before. 
Into his mouth he skips, his teeth he pickles, 
Clenseth his palate, and his throat so tickles. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas. 
To glean. 
II. intrans. 1. To eat sparingly or squeamish- 
iy; pick. 2. To commit small thefts; pilfer. 
Jamieson. 
[Obs. or prov. in all uses.] 
pickle 1 (pik'l), n. [<picklef, .] 1. A grain of 
particle ; 
She gi'es the herd a. pickle nits, 
And twa red-cheekit apples. 
Bums, Halloween. pickTe-WOrm 
Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] (pik'1-werm), . 
n. [< ME. pikil, pykyl (ML. re- The larva of a 
nex ptcuia), also pigell = D. pekel = MLG. pe- pyralid moth, 
kel pickel LG. pekel, peckel, pickel, bickel, > G. Phacellura niti- 
pokel, bokel, pickle, brine; origin uncertain, dalis, of striking 
I he Gael. Ir. picil, pickle, is from E.] 1. A aspect, which 
lutaon ofjsalt^and water in which flesh, fish, lays its eggs on 
young cucum- 
bers and other 
cucurbitaceous 
Addison, Spectator, No. 47. 
Britain jack-puddings. 
4. Same as peekled. 
The head (of the trout-fly) is of black silk or hair ; the 
wings of a feather of a mallard, teal, or pickled hen's wing. 
W. Lauson (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 194). 
pickle-herring (pik'l-her'ing), n. [= D. pekel- 
haring, pekeUiaaring = MLG. pekelherink. pick- 
elherink, LG. pekeltiering, a pickled herring, a 
merry-andrew, > G. pokelJiering, a pickled her- 
ring (cf. G. piokelhering, merry-andrew, from 
the E. word, which was carried to Germany by 
English comedians who played in that country 
in the 17th century); asjMcWe 2 -I- herring."] 1. 
A pickled herring. 2f. A merry-audrew ; a 
zany; a buffoon. Compare second quotation 
under pickled, 3. 
small quantity; pickler (pik'ler), n. One who pickles; spe- 
cifically, in the fisheries, a man detailed to 
put the fish in 
pickle. 
Moth of Pickle-worm (.Pkacell* 
(Eudioftis) nin'daiis). 
