Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A card game for two people, played with a deck from which all cards below the seven, aces being high, are omitted.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Milit. See
picket . - noun A game at cards played between two persons with thirty-two cards, all the deuces, threes, fours, fives, and sixes being set aside: players score for carte blanche, or a hand of only plain cards, point, or a hand with the strongest suit, sequence, quatorze, trio, and pique and repique.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun rare See
picket . - noun A game at cards played between two persons, with thirty-two cards, all the deuces, threes, fours, fives, and sixes, being set aside.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun card games A game at
cards played between two persons, with thirty-two cards, all the deuces, threes, fours, fives, and sixes, being set aside.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a form of military punishment used by the British in the late 17th century in which a soldier was forced to stand on one foot on a pointed stake
- noun a card game for two players using a reduced pack of 32 cards
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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From nine to ten thirty she played a game called piquet, which her father had taught her, if she could get anyone with whom to play; but as this was seldom, she played as a rule patience by herself.
Complete Project Gutenberg John Galsworthy Works John Galsworthy 1900
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"Saucy Girl" From nine to ten thirty she played a game called piquet, which her father had taught her, if she could get anyone with whom to play; but as this was seldom, she played as a rule patience by herself.
The Country House John Galsworthy 1900
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To two of his Captains, Smith and Carline, a piquet was a smart group of men who stood to attention at the boundary of a camp and had no purpose other than to salute officers.
Sharpe's Regiment Cornwell, Bernard 1986
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Back then, cards weren't mass-produced, so it's likely they're using a hand-painted 32-card deck called a "piquet".
Another view Cézanne's The Card Players Interview by Laura Barnett 2010
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A 'piquet' of 'gens d'armes', he said, was all that was necessary.
Complete Project Gutenberg Collection of Memoirs of Napoleon Various
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A 'piquet' of 'gens d'armes', he said, was all that was necessary.
The Memoirs of Napoleon Bourrienne, Louis Antoine Fauvelet de 1836
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A 'piquet' of 'gens d'armes', he said, was all that was necessary.
Memoirs of Napoleon — Complete Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne 1801
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By the way, he inquired whether you played 'piquet' or 'bezique,' from which I infer that he is looking for an antagonist with ready money. "
The King's Men A Tale of To-morrow John Boyle O'Reilly 1867
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McMurtrey, with poorly concealed apprehension, followed as well as he could what went on at the piquet table.
A GOBOTO NIGHT 2010
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If Babyface wants his cards back, he can play piquet for them.
A Hellion in Her Bed Sabrina Jeffries 2010
chained_bear commented on the word piquet
"'What do you say to a hand at piquet? It is years since we played.'"
--Patrick O'Brian, The Thirteen Gun Salute, 274
For more on this game (from the same book):
"Happy in a sense, since he always, invariably, with the utmost regularity skinned Jack Aubrey, as he skinned most others at this game, and although the money was now of no significance, it was still a pleasure to see his point of five outdo Jack's by a single pip, his tierce major triumph over a tierce minor, and Jack's eagerly announced septième beaten down by the almost unheard-of huitième..."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Thirteen Gun Salute, 274
March 5, 2008