socket

American  

[sok-it] / ˈsɒk ɪt /

noun

• sockets
  plural

1. a hollow part or piece for receiving and holding some part or thing.

2. Electricity.

   1. a device intended to hold an electric light bulb mechanically and connect it electrically to circuit wires.

   2. Also called wall socket.  a socket placed in a wall to receive a plug that makes an electrical connection with supply wiring.

3. Anatomy.

   1. a hollow in one part that receives another part.

      the socket of the eye.

   2. the concavity of a joint.

      the socket of the hip.

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verb (used with object)

• sockets,
  present (3rd person singular)
• socketed,
  past participle,  past
• socketing
  present participle

1. to place in or fit with a socket.

socket British  

/ ˈsɒkɪt /

noun

1. a device into which an electric plug can be inserted in order to make a connection in a circuit

2. US and Canadian name: outlet.  Informal Brit names: point.   plug.  such a device mounted on a wall and connected to the electricity supply

3. a part with an opening or hollow into which some other part, such as a pipe, probe, etc, can be fitted

4. a spanner head having a recess suitable to be fitted over the head of a bolt and a keyway into which a wrench can be fitted

5. anatomy

   1. a bony hollow into which a part or structure fits

      a tooth socket

      an eye socket

   2. the receptacle of a ball-and-socket joint

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verb

1. (tr) to furnish with or place into a socket

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• socketless
  adjective
• unsocketed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sockets
  plural

Participles

• socketing
  present
• socketed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• socket
  simple
• sockets
  simple
• have socketed
  perfect
• has socketed
  perfect
• am socketing
  progressive
• are socketing
  progressive
• is socketing
  progressive
• have been socketing
  perfect progressive
• has been socketing
  perfect progressive

Past

• socketed
  simple
• had socketed
  perfect
• was socketing
  progressive
• were socketing
  progressive
• had been socketing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will socket
  simple
• will have socketed
  perfect
• will be socketing
  progressive
• will have been socketing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of socket

1300–50; Middle English soket < Anglo-French, equivalent to Old French soc plowshare (< Gaulish *soccos; compare Welsh swch, Old Irish socc ) + -et -et

Explanation

However many people it takes to change a light bulb, at least one of them will have to unscrew the old bulb from the socket and replace it with a new one. A hollow or cavity that you insert something into is a socket. Many people also call electrical outlets (like the one you plug a toaster into) sockets. This makes sense because you are inserting a plug into it—some purists argue that it has to be called an outlet because power comes out of it, but it's a perfectly good way to use the word. There are also anatomical sockets in our bodies, like eye sockets into which eyeballs fit neatly, and ball-and-socket joints, like hips and shoulders.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

socket sockets socketed socketing

Instead, she stands up, pops her dislocated shoulder back into its socket and grimly declares to the shocked classmate filming her, “This is Claire Bennet, and that was attempt No. 6.”

From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026

Being able to see the internal parts through its socket holes can be a sign it is unsafe - they should have safety shutters instead.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Featuring illuminated eyes in the film, and with original wiring in the right socket, this particular C-3PO head boasts several unique features including a forehead antenna.

From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026

Preserved in nearly perfect three-dimensional detail, the skeleton includes a skull with a huge eye socket and an elongated, sword-like snout.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 24, 2026

Dad reached for the whip socket, and the tramp turned back to the fire.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Encord replicated a real data center server rack, where an operator inserts blue cables into penny-sized sockets all day.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026

Standing about 25 inches tall, it likely had a toothless beak, large eye sockets, and hollow bones.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 2026

The single set of temporal fascia—indentations behind the eye sockets that are doubled on a reptile—is one means of scientific definition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026

“These sockets saw, and these jaws spoke and swallowed. This is a monument to them. A temple.”

From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2026

The rubies in his eye sockets began to glow with an intense red light.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

They kept digging and found a hoard of other artifacts, including socketed ax heads, winged ax heads, cake ingots and blade fragments made of bronze.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 3, 2021

In the Positano brochures, they tell you about the view: the impossible blue of the sea, the colorful buildings socketed like Legos into the craggy hillside, the narrow alleyways of shops and restaurants.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2019

Did it require special equipment, perhaps a rope woven around short lengths of bamboo that could be covertly socketed together?

From Washington Post ● Oct. 17, 2018

Shoulder-straps and a socketed belt are provided to let the fisherman put his back into his fight with the fish.

From Time Magazine Archive

The small head had jaws set with socketed teeth, like a reptile's, and the long, lizard tail of twenty-one bones had a pair of side feathers at each joint.

From Earth and Sky Every Child Should Know Easy studies of the earth and the stars for any time and place by Julia Ellen Rogers

Tom Kettering returned at the appointed time, to a minute, and took no notice of his own arrival beyond socketing his whip in its stall, in token of its abdication.

From When Ghost Meets Ghost by William Frend De Morgan

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