socket

[ sok-it ]

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

1. to place in or fit with a socket.

socket

/ ˈsɒkɪt /

noun

1. a device into which an electric plug can be inserted in order to make a connection in a circuit
2. such a device mounted on a wall and connected to the electricity supply Informal Brit namespointplug US and Canadian nameoutlet
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

      an eye socket

      a tooth socket

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

verb

1. tr to furnish with or place into a socket

Other Words From

• socket·less adjective
• un·socket·ed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of socket¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of socket¹

C13: from Anglo-Norman soket a little ploughshare, from soc, of Celtic origin; compare Cornish soch ploughshare

Example Sentences

The final word on cordless vacuumsThere’s no doubt that getting rid of wires and power sockets makes life a lot easier, and these days, the best cordless vacuum cleaners have suction power that easily compares to their plugin-powered counterparts.

From Popular-Science

It is more like a USB socket, with both communication and power capabilities.

From Popular-Science

Electric vehicles are not appliancesWe’ve come to expect that we plug electric devices into a socket and they just work.

From Popular-Science

In August, one cable that supported this dome slipped out of a socket.

From Science News For Students

If you’ve ever traveled to South Africa and tried to use your multi-country adapter to recharge your phone or laptop, you may have been surprised that your adapter could not fit into the country’s unique sockets.

From Quartz

It turns out that a nail clipper, divided into two halves and hooked up directly into a power socket will boil water.

From The Daily Beast

In 1996, Smart was severely beaten in prison by two inmates, who broke her eye socket and left her with a metal plate in her head.

From The Daily Beast

During a trip to Dallas for Super Bowl 2011 festivities, she writes that Russell “knocked her jaw out of the socket.”

From The Daily Beast

When it was over, Keith had been stabbed in the shoulder, and Brandon had a fractured eye socket and orbital wall.

From The Daily Beast

Fixed to the tumbler inboard there is a small bar which fits into a socket attached to the covering board.

From Project Gutenberg

Pour water in an earthenware jar, place the plates in it and turn the plug in a lamp socket.

From Project Gutenberg

The candle was burning to the socket; the moonlight lay on the floor between them, in a shifting, widening patch.

From Project Gutenberg

In testing a fixture, the plug A is turned into a socket of some source of current, and a lamp is turned into the socket B.

From Project Gutenberg

After attaching the socket to the wall with screws the board was easily put in place as shown in Fig. 2.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• channel
• groove
• hole
• niche
• position
• space
• vacancy