Word
cricket
Phoneticscrick·et
US/ˈkɹɪkət/
UK/kɹˈɪkɪt/
Definitions
01the insect
n. a small jumping insect that makes a loud chirping sound at night.
n. any of various orthopteran insects of the family Gryllidae, known for the stridulating noise produced by the males.
“The sound of a single cricket kept him awake all night in the cabin.”
“Male crickets produce their characteristic chirping sound by rubbing their wings together to attract mates during the summer months.”
02the sport
n. a team game played with a bat, a ball, and wickets, popular in the UK and Commonwealth.
n. an outdoor game played with bats, a ball, and wickets between two teams of eleven players; typically uncountable in this sense.
“We spent the whole afternoon watching a game of cricket at the local park.”
“The national team's victory in the cricket world cup sparked celebrations across the country, highlighting the sport's enduring popularity.”
03fair behaviour
n. fair and honest behavior toward other people.
n. fair, honourable, or sportsmanlike conduct; frequently used in the negative 'it's not cricket' to denote unfairness.
“Changing the rules at the last minute just isn't cricket.”
“The CEO's decision to withhold bonuses while increasing his own salary was widely criticised as simply not being cricket.”
British English · Informal
Synonyms
Antonyms
04aviation warning
n. a loud, repeating alarm sound used in a plane's cockpit to warn pilots.
n. a specific aural warning signal in an aircraft cockpit, designed with a repetitive chime to ensure immediate pilot recognition.
“The pilot reacted immediately when the cricket started sounding in the cockpit.”
“During the emergency descent, the persistent chirping of the cricket alerted the crew to an airspeed deviation that required immediate correction.”
Technical · Slang
05silence or no response
n. a way to describe total silence, especially when you expect someone to speak.
n. used metaphorically in the plural to describe a lack of response or total silence following a statement or question.
“I asked if anyone wanted to help me clean, but all I heard was crickets.”
“The comedian's controversial joke was met with literal crickets from the audience, making the rest of the set incredibly awkward.”
Informal · Humorous
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English creket, crykett, crykette, from Old French criket (with diminutive -et) from criquer (“to make a cracking sound; creak”), from Middle Dutch kricken (“to creak; crack”), from Proto-West Germanic krakōn, from Proto-Germanic krakōną, related to Middle English creken, criken (“to creak”), all ultimately of imitative origin. Compare Dutch kriek (“cricket”), Middle Dutch krikel, criekel, crekel (“cricket”) (with diminituve -el), Middle Low German krikel, krekel (“cricket”), German Kreckel (“cricket”). More at creak.
Perhaps from a Flemish dialect of Dutch met de krik ketsen (“to chase a ball with a curved stick”).
The etymology is unknown. A few similar words exist in Germanic languages, such as Norwegian krakk (“stool”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Idioms
holy crickets — An expression of surprise or astonishment.
not cricket — Unsportsmanlike.