DictionaryAI

crickets

KRIK-its/ˈkɹɪk.ɪts/

3 meanings of crickets

Practice

  1. 1
    noun
    Plural of cricket. Use it when you talk about more than one of the chirping insects.

    We could hear crickets in the grass all night long.

    My brother keeps two crickets in a jar on his desk.

    Note
  2. 2
    nounslangfigurativelyhumorousCanadaUSuncountable
    Total silence when you expect people to answer or react, so nobody says anything back.

    I texted him three times, but all I got back was crickets.

    When the teacher asked who did the homework, you could hear crickets.

    Similarsilence

    Note
  3. 3
    interjection
    A word you say when you are a little annoyed or surprised.

    Oh, crickets! I forgot to buy milk again.

    Crickets, you scared me when you jumped out like that!

    Similargosh, shoot, jeez, darn

    Note

crickets is a form of cricket

cricket, noun: An insect that makes a chirping sound by rubbing its wings against its back legs. Full entry

Forms
cricketcrickets plural
Spelling
cricket → crickets: add -s
Sound
The ending sounds like /s/.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of crickets apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

The meaning of silence comes from films, where crickets chirping at night show that everything else is quiet.