picketing
UK[ˈpɪkɪtɪŋ]US[ˈpɪkɪtɪŋ]
n
the activity of standing or marching outside a building, especially a place of work, to protest about something or to prevent people from entering during a strike.
verb (gerund)
the act of taking part in a picket.
Morpheme Breakdown
picket
ing
picket
pointed stake
ing
verbal noun suffix
Etymology
the word 'picketing' originates from the military practice of using pointed stakes, or 'pickets', driven into the ground to tether horses or form defensive barriers. this literal sense of a pointed stake evolved metaphorically in the 18th century to describe soldiers placed as an advanced guard or sentinel, a 'picket'. by the mid-19th century, this military term was applied to labor protests, where strikers standing outside a workplace were likened to a line of sentinels or a defensive barrier. the '-ing' suffix transforms the verb 'to picket' into a noun denoting the action or process, thus 'picketing' logically describes the act of maintaining such a protest line.
Analysis
Structure: picket (pointed stake) + ing (verbal noun suffix)
picket (from french 'piquet', meaning a pointed stake or peg, ultimately of germanic origin) + ing (from old english '-ung', '-ing', forming verbal nouns indicating an action or its result).
Examples
the union organized peaceful picketing outside the factory gates.
she was arrested for illegal picketing during the demonstration.
the new law placed restrictions on secondary picketing.