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
Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 14 May 2026
Scherer escalated the stakes, giving Duff a concoction of sauces and ingredients topped with crickets.
—Chiara Kim, PEOPLE, 14 May 2026
Paul Newman, New York Times, 10 May 2026
New to cricket Ironically, Moss has only been playing cricket for a few months.
—Rick Mauch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cricket
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Noun
Lone has captained the J&K para cricket team and drawn widespread recognition for his achievements in the sport.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 14 May 2026
Scherer escalated the stakes, giving Duff a concoction of sauces and ingredients topped with crickets.
—Chiara Kim, PEOPLE, 14 May 2026
Verb
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
New to cricket Ironically, Moss has only been playing cricket for a few months.
—Rick Mauch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Oct. 2025
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 May. 2026.
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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