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 WebTristan Lavalette, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024
Cave crickets, mites, spiders and flies soon organize into a temporary food web, dispersing the nutrients to the surrounding cave and formations.
—Marnie Hunter, CNN, 10 Sep. 2024
The first recorded photo of a cricket match taken on July 25, 1857, by Roger Fenton.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 13 Aug. 2024
The Brooklyn, New York, apartment building of Columbia University’s chief operating officer was vandalized Thursday with red paint and crickets, police said.
—Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 10 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for cricket 
Noun
Crowd numbers in the UAE for cricket are usually modest apart from on days when South Asian expatriates have time off from work.
—Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024
Cave crickets, mites, spiders and flies soon organize into a temporary food web, dispersing the nutrients to the surrounding cave and formations.
—Marnie Hunter, CNN, 10 Sep. 2024
The first recorded photo of a cricket match taken on July 25, 1857, by Roger Fenton.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 13 Aug. 2024
The Brooklyn, New York, apartment building of Columbia University’s chief operating officer was vandalized Thursday with red paint and crickets, police said.
—Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 10 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for cricket
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cricket.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near cricket
Cite this Entry
“Cricket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cricket. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.
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"
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share