1. n. & v.
--n. a game played on a grass pitch with two teams of
11 players taking turns to bowl at a wicket defended by a batting player of the other team.
--v.intr. (cricketed, cricketing) play cricket.
Phrases and idioms:
cricket-bag a long bag used for carrying a cricketer's bat etc. not cricket Brit. colloq. underhand or unfair behaviour.
Derivatives:
cricketer n.
Etymology: 16th c.: orig. uncert. 2. n. any of various grasshopper-like insects of the order Orthoptera, the males of which produce a characteristic chirping sound.
Etymology: ME f. OF criquet f. criquer creak etc. (imit.)