eye socket

American  

noun

1. the socket or orbit of the eye.

---

eye socket British  

noun

1. the nontechnical name for orbit

---

Etymology

Origin of eye socket

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

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

The skull has an enormous eye socket and a long sword-like snout that it used to eat fish and squid.

From BBC • Oct. 9, 2025

After spending six days in the ICU in Reno, he was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where another medical team tended to his shattered cheekbones, jaw and eye socket.

From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2024

She followed the vet’s instructions to gently press around the dog’s eye socket and look under her eyelid for blood.

From New York Times • Apr. 7, 2023

But what really sent a shiver down my back was the single black eye socket in the center of its skull.

From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan