bat a sticky wicket
ɪt noun
Idioms 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.
a.
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.
b.
the area between the wickets; the playing field.
c.
one batsman's turn at the wicket.
d.
the period during which two players bat together.
e.
a batsman's inning that is not completed or not begun.
8.
to be on/have/bata sticky wicket, British Slang. to be at or have a disadvantage.
00:10
Bat a sticky wicket
is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
Origin:
1200–50; Middle English wiket < Anglo-French; Old French guischet < Germanic; compare Middle Dutch wiket wicket, equivalent to wik- (akin to Old English wīcan to yield; see weak) + -et noun suffix
1200–50; Middle English wiket < Anglo-French; Old French guischet < Germanic; compare Middle Dutch wiket wicket, equivalent to wik- (akin to Old English wīcan to yield; see weak) + -et noun suffix
Related forms
half-wick·et, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To bat a sticky wicket
Collins
World English Dictionary
wicket (ˈwɪkɪt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a small door or gate, esp one that is near to or part of a larger one |
| 2. | (US) 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. | (US) a croquet hoop |
| 5. | a. 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 |
| b. the strip of ground between these | |
| c. a batsman's turn at batting or the period during which two batsmen bat: a third-wicket partnership | |
| d. the act or instance of a batsman being got out: the bowler took six wickets | |
| 6. | keep wicket to act as a wicketkeeper |
| 7. | informal on a sticky wicket in an awkward situation |
| [C18: from Old Northern French wiket; related to Old Norse vikja to move] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
wicket
early 13c., "small door or gate," from Anglo-Fr. wiket, from O.N.Fr. wiket (Fr. guichet) "wicket, wicket gate," probably from P.Gmc. *wik- (cf. O.N. vik "nook") related to O.E. wican "to give way, yield" (see weak). The notion is of "something that turns." Cricket sense of
"set of three sticks defended by the batsman" is recorded from 1733.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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