cricket

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A team sport played with a bat and ball by two teams of eleven players.

   They spent the whole afternoon playing cricket in the park.

2. 2
   noun

   A small jumping insect that makes a chirping sound by rubbing its wings together.

   We could hear crickets chirping outside all through the warm evening.

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.

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