cricket

1 of 3

noun (1)

crick·​et ˈkri-kət 

plural crickets

1

: any of a family (Gryllidae) of leaping orthopteran insects noted for the chirping notes produced by the male by rubbing together specially modified parts of the forewings

2

crickets : a conspicuous lack of response : silence

At one point I asked him a question and took a long sip of my drink to allow him a moment to pose the question back to me. It was crickets … Silence.

—The Star

And yet, nothing. Crickets. Silence.

—Kurt Bardella

You post day in and day out hoping to see the social side of social media start to happen. Sometimes, a like or two will pop up, but most of the time, you hear crickets. It's disheartening.

—Jordan Kasteler

3

: a low wooden footstool

4

: a small metal toy or signaling device that makes a sharp click or snap when pressed

Illustration of cricket

• cricket 1

cricket

2 of 3

noun (2)

1

: a game played with a ball and bat by two sides of usually 11 players each on a large field centering upon two wickets each defended by a batsman

2

: fair and honorable behavior

… it wasn't cricket for her to break her contract.

—Gerry Nadel

cricket

3 of 3

verb

cricketed; cricketing; crickets

intransitive verb

: to play the game of cricket

cricketer noun

Examples of cricket in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But most bait users stick to tried-and-true oldies — minnows and worms, crawdads and crickets. —Byron W. Dalrymple, Outdoor Life, 4 June 2026

This October, Kip Moore will return to South Africa to perform at a 22,000-seat cricket stadium and do back-to-back nights at a Cape Town arena. —Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 3 June 2026

Verb

Fields can be reserved for soccer, rugby, baseball, softball, and even cricket, and ice-skating at the Steinberg Skating Rink is a winter rite of passage in St. Louis. —Erika Ebsworth-Goold, Travel + Leisure, 12 May 2026

Gary Lineker once missed a game for Spurs because of an injury sustained in a cricket match he was not supposed to be playing in, and Gary and Phil Neville are still considered the ones that got away by Lancashire because of their cricketing prowess. —Paul Newman, New York Times, 10 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English criket, from Anglo-French, of imitative origin

Noun (2)

Middle French criquet goal stake in a bowling game

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1575, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1809, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing cricket

• house cricket
• Jerusalem cricket
• mole cricket
• Mormon cricket
• not cricket

Rhymes for cricket

• chicot
• picket
• picot
• thicket
• ticket
• wicket

Kids Definition

cricket

1 of 2 noun

crick·​et ˈkrik-ət 

: any of a family of leaping insects related to the grasshoppers and having leathery forewings used by the males to produce a chirping sound

cricket

2 of 2 noun

1

: a game played on a large field with bats, ball, and wickets by two teams of 11 players each

2

: fair play

cricketer noun

Etymology

Noun

Middle English criket "cricket (insect)," from early French criquet (same meaning); probably an imitation of the insect's sound

Noun

from early French criquet "goal stake in an old bowling game"