Pick"er*el (?), n. [Dim. of Pike.] [Written also pickerell.] 1. A young
or small pike. [Obs.]
Bet [better] is, quoth he, a pike than a pickerel.
Chaucer.
2. (Zoˆl.) (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.
The federation, or chain, pickerel (Esox reticulatus) and the brook
pickerel (E. 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.
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.
Pick"er*ing (?), n. [Probably a corruption of Pickerel.] (Zoˆl.) The
sauger of the St.Lawrence River.
Pick"er*y (?), n. [From Pick to steal; or perhaps from Pickeer.] Petty
theft. [Scot.] Holinshed.
Pick"et (?), 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.