Illustration of cricket
- cricket 1
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
The StarAnd yet, nothing. Crickets. Silence.—Kurt Bardella
Kurt BardellaYou 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
Jordan Kasteler3
: a low wooden footstool
4
: a small metal toy or signaling device that makes a sharp click or snap when pressed
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
Gerry Nadel
cricketed; cricketing; crickets
: to play the game of cricket
cricketer
noun
Examples of cricket in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2025
Flintoff returned to screen last year for the second series of Field of Dreams, following his experiences taking a group of schoolboys and inspiring them with a series of cricket tutorials.
—Caroline Frost, Deadline, 12 Apr. 2025
Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 19 Sep. 2024
Khan, who captained Pakistan to cricket World Cup glory in 1992 and entered politics four years later, rose to power on a ticket of anti-corruption.
—Sophia Saifi, CNN, 6 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for cricket
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Noun
In its first Olympic competition since 1900, cricket will take place at the fairgrounds in Pomona.
—Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2025
Flintoff returned to screen last year for the second series of Field of Dreams, following his experiences taking a group of schoolboys and inspiring them with a series of cricket tutorials.
—Caroline Frost, Deadline, 12 Apr. 2025
Verb
Sports, especially cricket, and local drama and romance productions lead the consumption of premium streaming.
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 19 Sep. 2024
Khan, who captained Pakistan to cricket World Cup glory in 1992 and entered politics four years later, rose to power on a ticket of anti-corruption.
—Sophia Saifi, CNN, 6 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for cricket
Cite this Entry
“Cricket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cricket. Accessed 21 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids 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 noun1
: 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"
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