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 WebNaman Ramachandran, Variety, 5 Dec. 2023
Enormous televisions show soccer, cricket, and football.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 12 Nov. 2023
Take 1953’s Sound Patterns, an odd compendium that brings together mating tortoises, crickets, human heartbeats, jet planes, African drums, an orchestra tuning up, and even a hot dog vendor.
—Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 6 Nov. 2023
Other attachments include ones that look like birds, crickets, moths and mice.
—Yolanda Wikiel, wsj.com, 17 Oct. 2023
Part of the problem for cricket at the Olympics is that traditional matches take a long time, typically four to five days.
—Victor Mather, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2023
At lunchtime, the restaurant hosts guacamole-making classes, with students invited to add pomegranate seeds and roasted crickets to the iconic dish.
—Keaton Bell, Vogue, 1 Dec. 2023
Some of the flowers are wilting, and a cricket and butterfly sit among the petals collected on a ledge below.
—Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Nov. 2023
There are no Australian cricket reporters covering the series from location and even in cricket-crazy India there appears to be fatigue.
—Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023
Alyssa Hui, Health, 1 Dec. 2023
From golf to cricket to basketball, Saudi Arabia is keen to make a play all over, so as to clothe itself in the decorous, apolitical garb of international sports.
—Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 7 June 2023
He’d been blessed with athletic ability and preternatural skill that his brothers thought might lead him to cricket, like his estranged father, who had played semi-professionally.
—Joshua Robinson, WSJ, 9 Mar. 2021
With the requisite funding, Olivier believed his program in Zagreb could eventually expose around 10,000 Ukrainians to cricket.
—Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022
Subscribers to the Disney+ streaming business declined 1 percent in the quarter to $161.8 million, the first such decline, amid cancellations of the Hotstar service in India after Disney lost streaming rights to cricket there.
—Thomas Buckley, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Feb. 2023
Subscribers to the Disney+ streaming business declined 1% in the quarter to 161.8 million, the first such decline, amid cancellations of the Hotstar service in India after Disney lost streaming rights to cricket there.
—Thomas Buckley, Fortune, 8 Feb. 2023
Additionally, the sportsbook page offers a market for any bettor from the NFL to cricket.
—Chris Ilenstine, Chicago Tribune, 27 Jan. 2023
The glitz and glamor of the IPL, which only started in 2008, has become a marketing triumph and rocketed a brand estimated to be around $7 billion to make it clearly cricket’s most valuable product - much more so than the sport’s various World Cups.
—Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 26 Oct. 2021
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Noun
Arlene Nelson will direct a documentary series on Indian Women’s Premier League cricket team U.P.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 5 Dec. 2023
Enormous televisions show soccer, cricket, and football.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 12 Nov. 2023
Take 1953’s Sound Patterns, an odd compendium that brings together mating tortoises, crickets, human heartbeats, jet planes, African drums, an orchestra tuning up, and even a hot dog vendor.
—Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 6 Nov. 2023
Other attachments include ones that look like birds, crickets, moths and mice.
—Yolanda Wikiel, wsj.com, 17 Oct. 2023
Part of the problem for cricket at the Olympics is that traditional matches take a long time, typically four to five days.
—Victor Mather, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2023
At lunchtime, the restaurant hosts guacamole-making classes, with students invited to add pomegranate seeds and roasted crickets to the iconic dish.
—Keaton Bell, Vogue, 1 Dec. 2023
Some of the flowers are wilting, and a cricket and butterfly sit among the petals collected on a ledge below.
—Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Nov. 2023
There are no Australian cricket reporters covering the series from location and even in cricket-crazy India there appears to be fatigue.
—Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023
Verb
In addition, someone may naturally feel an urge to cricket feet as a self-soothing behavior or as a relief for Restless Legs Syndrome, however, taking up a new practice of cricketing is unlikely to help.
—Alyssa Hui, Health, 1 Dec. 2023
From golf to cricket to basketball, Saudi Arabia is keen to make a play all over, so as to clothe itself in the decorous, apolitical garb of international sports.
—Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 7 June 2023
He’d been blessed with athletic ability and preternatural skill that his brothers thought might lead him to cricket, like his estranged father, who had played semi-professionally.
—Joshua Robinson, WSJ, 9 Mar. 2021
With the requisite funding, Olivier believed his program in Zagreb could eventually expose around 10,000 Ukrainians to cricket.
—Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022
Subscribers to the Disney+ streaming business declined 1 percent in the quarter to $161.8 million, the first such decline, amid cancellations of the Hotstar service in India after Disney lost streaming rights to cricket there.
—Thomas Buckley, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Feb. 2023
Subscribers to the Disney+ streaming business declined 1% in the quarter to 161.8 million, the first such decline, amid cancellations of the Hotstar service in India after Disney lost streaming rights to cricket there.
—Thomas Buckley, Fortune, 8 Feb. 2023
Additionally, the sportsbook page offers a market for any bettor from the NFL to cricket.
—Chris Ilenstine, Chicago Tribune, 27 Jan. 2023
The glitz and glamor of the IPL, which only started in 2008, has become a marketing triumph and rocketed a brand estimated to be around $7 billion to make it clearly cricket’s most valuable product - much more so than the sport’s various World Cups.
—Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 26 Oct. 2021
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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.
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
Time Traveler
The first known use of cricket was
in the 14th century
Phrases Containing cricket
Articles Related to cricket
Dictionary Entries Near cricket
Cite this Entry
“Cricket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cricket. Accessed 9 Jan. 2024.
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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 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"
More from Merriam-Webster on cricket
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for cricket
Nglish: Translation of cricket for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of cricket for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about cricket
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