I. ˈkrikə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English criket, from Middle French criquet, of imitative origin
1. : any of certain saltatorial insects that constitute a family Gryllidae, that are noted for the chirping notes of the males produced by rubbing together specially modified parts of the fore wings, and that include the European house cricket ( Acheta domestica ) which is naturalized in parts of America and lives in human dwellings and the common large black American field cricket ( A. assimilis ) which also enters houses — see mole cricket , tree cricket
2. : any of various insects other than crickets ; especially : grasshopper — usually used with a qualifying word; see mormon cricket , sand cricket
3. : something making a sound like the chirp of a cricket: as
a. : a roller in the bit of a horse
b. : a small metal toy or signaling device that makes a sharp click or snap when pressed
4. : a person regarded as like a cricket (as in smallness and briskness or in rusticity)
5. : a small false roof or a canted part of a roof to throw off water from behind an obstacle (as a chimney)
6. : a low wooden footstool
[s]cricket.jpg[/s] [
cricket 1
]
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French criquet goal stake in old games of bowls, perhaps from criquer to crack, of imitative origin; from the sound of the balls striking the stakes
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 pitched 22 yards apart and defended each by a batsman for one over against a bowler, a run being scored each time the two batsmen exchange their wicket positions on hit or passed balls without either being out — see inning
2. : fair and honorable behavior like that of a sportsman : proper and gentlemanly conduct
III. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to play cricket