cricket

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to play cricket

   The children spent all their free time cricketing.

2. 2
   noun

   An act that is fair and sportsmanlike.

   Robbins went on, "Henry wouldn't do anything that wasn't cricket. Me, I was raised in a river ward and I'm not bothered by niceties. […]

3. 3
   verb

   To play the game of cricket.

   Judge: Your family is in destitute circumstances. How do you get your living? Bannerman: By cricketing, your Worship.

4. 4
   noun

   A wooden footstool.

   Heawe’er I pood o Cricket, on keaw’rt meh deawn ith Nook, o side oth' Hob

5. 5
   noun

   a game played with a ball and bat by two teams of 11 players

6. 6
   noun

   leaping insect

7. 7
   noun

   An insect in the order Orthoptera, especially family Gryllidae, that makes a chirping sound by rubbing its wing casings against combs on its hind legs.

8. 8
   noun

   A signalling device used by soldiers in hostile territory to identify themselves to a friendly in low visibility conditions.

Etymology

From Middle English creket, crykett, crykette, from Old French criket (with diminutive -et) from criquer (“to make a cracking sound; creak”), from Middle Dutch kricken (“to creak; crack”), from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn, from Proto-Germanic *krakōną, related to Middle English creken, criken (“to creak”), all ultimately of imitative origin. Compare Dutch kriek (“cricket”), Middle Dutch krikel, criekel, crekel (“cricket”) (with diminituve -el), Middle Low German krikel, krekel (“cricket”), German Kreckel (“cricket”). More at creak.