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Glite Dictionary
wicket-keeper

wicket-keeper

8.3
A player who stands behind the batter to catch missed balls and try to get them out
  • noun
  • /ˈwɪkɪt ˈkiːpə/
  • Jargon
translation icon : guardameta
  • As the game progressed, the wicket-keeper made several brilliant saves to keep the team in contention.

Examples

  • During the match, the wicket-keeper swiftly caught the ball that passed the batter.

  • Then there was throwing from the deep world, preferably (unless you were an absolute genius at it) a one-bounce into the big thick gloves of the wicket-keeper awaiting it.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The best wicket keeper.

    The Grand Seduction (2014)

  • This means you can't be out bowled, leg before wicket, caught, or stumped by the wicket-keeper even.

    Global Heresy (2002)

  • The coach praised the wicket-keeper for his quick reflexes behind the stumps.

Synonyms

wicketkeeper
vswicket-keeper
  • Jargon
7.0

A player who stands behind the batter to catch the ball and try to get them out

is the identical role written with a hyphen

Surface Forms

wicket-keeper singular
wicket-keepers plural

Morphology

wicket-keeper = wicket + keeper (transparent) = wicket + keeper

Meaning is directly the compound of 'wicket' (the thing in cricket) + 'keeper' (a person who guards or tends it), so the role is predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Wicket-keeper comes from wicket, an old word for a 'small gate', and keeper, someone who 'guards' things. In early cricket the target looked like a little gate, so the wicket-keeper is the player who 'guards the gate' behind the batter and catches balls missed by them.