wicket

American  

[wik-it] / ˈwɪk ɪt /

noun

• wickets
  plural

1. a window or opening, often closed by a grating or the like, as in a door, or forming a place of communication in a ticket office, a teller's cage in a bank, etc.

2. Croquet. a hoop or arch.

3. a turnstile in an entrance.

4. a small door or gate, especially one beside, or forming part of, a larger one.

5. a small gate by which a canal lock is emptied.

6. a gate by which a flow of water is regulated, as to a waterwheel.

7. Cricket.

   1. either of the two frameworks, each consisting of three stumps with two bails in grooves across the tops, at which the bowler aims the ball.

   2. the area between these frameworks; the playing field.

   3. one batsman's turn at the wicket.

   4. the period during which two players bat together.

   5. a batsman's innings that is not completed or not begun.

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idioms

1. to be on / have / bat a sticky wicket, to be at or have a disadvantage.

wicket British  

/ ˈwɪkɪt /

noun

1. a small door or gate, esp one that is near to or part of a larger one

2. a small window or opening in a door, esp one fitted with a grating or glass pane, used as a means of communication in a ticket office, bank, etc

3. a small sluicegate, esp one in a canal lock gate or by a water wheel

4. a croquet hoop

5. 1. cricket either of two constructions, placed 22 yards apart, consisting of three pointed stumps stuck parallel in the ground with two wooden bails resting on top, at which the batsman stands

   2. the strip of ground between these

   3. a batsman's turn at batting or the period during which two batsmen bat

      a third-wicket partnership

   4. the act or instance of a batsman being got out

      the bowler took six wickets

6. to act as a wicketkeeper

7. informal in an awkward situation

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• half-wicket
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• wickets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of wicket

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English wiket, from Anglo-French; Old French guischet, from Germanic; compare Middle Dutch wiket “wicket,” equivalent to wik- (akin to Old English wīcan “to yield”; see weak) + -et, noun suffix

Explanation

A wicket is a little gate or door. In sports, wicket can refer to either the hoop you aim for when hitting a croquet ball or the stump you aim for when batting a cricket ball. The very oldest meaning of wicket is "small door or gate," and it's still used this way sometimes, especially when the door is beside or within a larger one. This type of wicket is often found in a very old garden entrance or the door to a grand castle. Since the 17th century, the cricket meaning has become the most common, although North Americans are usually talking about croquet when they mention wickets.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wicket wickets

A throwback innings continued as he left well throughout day two, largely scoring square or behind the wicket.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Horley hit 117 from 86 balls, including 13 boundaries, and put on 131 for the fourth wicket with Finty Trussler.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

Archer's second wicket was curious – Wanindu Hasaranga out hit-wicket attempting a slog, his bat almost placed on top of the bails.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Dawson finished with 3-32 and Jamie Overton 2-23, while Sonny Baker impressed again with his pace and control in a miserly spell of 1-15, including a wicket maiden in the 19th over.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

At the churchyard wicket he stopped: he discovered I was quite out of breath.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Left-armer Mitchell Starc's haul of 89 wickets in 15 Tests has positioned him as the undisputed pink-ball king.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

This season Crane took 34 wickets in the County Championship and demonstrated his improvement with the bat by making his first two first-class hundreds.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Sri Lanka lost two wickets without a run on the board and crumbled to 45 all out in less than 10 overs of chaos that included three run-outs.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

India's men hammered Sri Lanka by 124 runs after Pakistan beat Bangladesh by six wickets in the semi-finals.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

If we couldn’t afford a proper cricket ball, we made one out of an old sock stuffed with rubbish; and we drew wickets on the wall in chalk.

From "Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World" by Malala Yousafzai