Cricket

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈkɹɪk.ɪt/
• Rhymes: -ɪkɪt

From Old French criquet, from criquer ("to make a cracking sound").

Full definition of cricket

Noun

1. An insect in the order Orthoptera, especially family , that makes a chirping sound by rubbing its wing casings against combs on its hind legs.
2. A wooden footstool.
3. A signalling device used by soldiers in hostile territory to identify themselves to a friendly in low visibility conditions
4. A relatively small area of a roof constructed to divert water from a horizontal intersection of the roof with a chimney, wall, expansion joint or other projection.
5. (US slang, in the plural) Absolute silence; no communication. See crickets.

Derived terms

• balm cricket
• chirpy as a cricket
• cricket bird
• cricket frog
• house cricket
• mole cricket
• Mormon cricket
• true cricket

Perhaps from a Flemish dialect of Dutch met 'with' de 'the' krik ketsen 'to ricochet', i.e. "to chase a ball with a crook".http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7919429.stm

Noun

1. (sports) A game played outdoors with bats and a ball between two teams of eleven, popular in England and many Commonwealth countries.
2. (chiefly British) An act that is fair and sportsmanlike, derived from the sport.''That player's foul wasn't cricket!

Usage notes

The sense "An act that is fair and sportsmanlike" is always used in negative constructions and is not restricted to sports usage.

(An act that is unfair or unsportsmanlike) not cricket

Verb

1. (rare, intransitive) To play the game of cricket.