cricket
(plural: ‘crickets‘; pronunciation: the first ‘c’ and the second ‘c’ with ‘k’ are said with a ‘k’ sound as in “king” — for the right pronunciation, please click here)
a cricket (insect)
a kind of insect – distantly related to grasshoppers; a flattened body that grows to ¼ to 1 inch; mostly active at night (nocturnal); a pair of long antennae; six legs – the last pair of legs is far longer than the other pairs and are designed to help the insect jump (hop) short distances; feeds on (eats) fungi, rotting plant matter; lives for about 1 year; about 900 species (kinds) found almost all over the world
Some common names of the crickets: field crickets, ground crickets, tree crickets, sword tail crickets, scaly crickets, ant crickets, Jerusalem crickets, bush crickets, mole crickets, camel or cave crickets ‘Cricket fighting’ is a game in some Asian countries – as gambling sport or just pastime – like ‘dog fight’ or ‘bull fight’! Only the male crickets make that infamous ‘chirp’ sound to attract the females. And they do not make this sound by rubbing their legs, as is believed by many people. They make this sound by rubbing the small bone-like growth on their left fore-wing against the thick scraper-like patch on their right fore-wing! Each species (kind) has its own favoured notes and volume. The amusing feature is that crickets have ears on their knees to hear the mating calls of the other crickets! A number of cricket species do not fly though they have wings. Jerusalem crickets live almost all their lives under ground. Crickets are used in story books, radio & TV shows, comics and animated motion pictures (films). (a game of cricket) 1. cricket (noun) = (a) an out-door ball & bat game played in several Commonwealth countries (b) good sportsmanship (= taking defeat or fault in a game in the right sense; not cheating in a game); fair conduct 2. as peart as a cricket (‘peart’ = healthy, active, alert) 3. (a) as merry as a cricket (b) as lively as a cricket
Crickets are eaten by people in some parts of Africa and Asia, but not a major source of food, and kept as pets by people some parts of the world.
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