Meaning & use
picket fence
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Meanings
nouncountable
A fence made of evenly spaced, upright wooden boards with pointed or rounded tops, often painted white.
Grammar: Countable: a picket fence around the yard.
Patterns
- a picket fence around something
A low white picket fence ran around the front garden.
He painted the picket fence every spring.
The dog squeezed through a gap in the picket fence.
nounsingularfigurative
A symbol of a settled, comfortable family life in a suburban home.
Grammar: Usually appears in the phrase 'white picket fence', often when talking about dreams or expectations.
Patterns
- the white picket fence
They dreamed of a house with a picket fence and a big yard.
She wasn't looking for the picket fence life, just a calm job and a good friend group.
Word forms
| plural | picket fences |
|---|
Common combinations
- a white picket fence
- The cottage had a white picket fence and rose bushes.
- paint a picket fence
- They spent the weekend painting the picket fence.
- the picket fence dream
- For many people, the picket fence dream means owning a home.
- a wooden picket fence
- A wooden picket fence marks the edge of the property.
- behind a picket fence
- Chickens wandered behind a picket fence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- paling fence
- This is a British term for a fence of upright slats, usually with less of the cozy suburban image.
- garden fence
- This is a plain, general phrase that does not describe the style.
- railing
- This is usually metal or wood bars on stairs or balconies, not around a yard.
- stockade
- This is a tall defensive wall of pointed posts, much more serious than a decorative picket fence.
Word family
- picket noun
- a pointed stake, or a group of protesters outside a workplace
- fence noun
- a barrier around an area
- fence verb
- to enclose an area with a barrier
- picket line noun
- a line of striking workers
Commonly confused: picket fence or picket line?
picket fence vs picket line
A picket line is a group of protesters, often strikers, outside a workplace, and has no link to a fence around a house.
Practice
People who talk about 'a house with a white picket fence' usually mean ____.
Choose one answer.
The picket fence is a symbol of a comfortable suburban family life. The other options do not match that cozy image.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “picket fence”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.