wicket

[wik-it]

noun

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.

wicket

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• half-wicket noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of wicket¹

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”; weak ) + -et, noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of wicket¹

C18: from Old Northern French wiket; related to Old Norse vikja to move

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

Example Sentences

England are in big trouble as they lose their first six wickets for just 57 runs against Pakistan at the Women's Cricket World Cup.

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India beat West Indies by seven wickets on day five of the second Test to sweep the series 2-0 on Tuesday.

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Noman returned figures of 6-112 for his ninth haul of five wickets or more in Tests as South Africa lost their last four wickets for 53 runs an hour before lunch, having resumed on 216-6.

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With the bat, it quickly became apparent that keeping wickets in hand took priority above all else as they crawled through the powerplay.

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South Africa's lower order once again came to the rescue after a top order collapse, edging out Bangladesh by three wickets in a nail-biting finish in the Women's World Cup in Visakhapatnam on Monday.

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