socket

[sok-it] /ˈsɒk ɪt/

noun

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

Electricity.

a device intended to hold an electric light bulb mechanically and connect it electrically to circuit wires.
Also called wall socket. a socket placed in a wall to receive a plug that makes an electrical connection with supply wiring.

Anatomy.

a hollow in one part that receives another part:
the socket of the eye.
the concavity of a joint:
the socket of the hip.

verb (used with object)

to place in or fit with a socket.

Origin

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

Related forms

socketless, adjective

unsocketed, adjective

Examples from the web for socket

The dog nearly yanking my arm out of the socket gets that credit.
The shoulder-joint is an enarthrodial or ball-and-socket joint.
Each pole had in the side facing the other a socket into which a smooth cross-piece or roller was fitted.
He never spoke, had only one eye and an inflamed socket.
It was a pretty thing, a nickeled cylinder with an almost silvery socket, to be attached to the dashboard of his car.
We can debate if a socket wrench makes a good enough hammer and drill press, but it really is foolish to plan that way.
Nor does the idea of throwing away the tank and plugging your car into an electric socket instead.
For the time being, soft radios will be restricted to devices that draw their power from a socket on the wall.
Buy one of these gizmos, the theory goes, and you need never connect it to a wall socket.
In a plug-in, the electricity comes from the mains, via an ordinary electrical socket.

British Dictionary definitions for socket

socket

/ˈsɒkɪt/

noun

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

(mainly Brit) such a device mounted on a wall and connected to the electricity supply Informal Brit names point, plug US and Canadian name outlet

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

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

(anatomy)

a bony hollow into which a part or structure fits: a tooth socket, an eye socket
the receptacle of a ball-and-socket joint

verb

(transitive) to furnish with or place into a socket

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for socket

c.1300, "spearhead" (originally one shaped like a plowshare), from Anglo-French soket "spearhead, plowshare" (mid-13c.), diminutive of Old French soc "plowshare," from Vulgar Latin *soccus, perhaps from a Gaulish source, from Celtic *sukko- (cf. Welsh swch "plowshare," Middle Irish soc "plowshare"), properly "hog's snout," from PIE *su- "pig" (cf. Latin sus "swine;" see sow (n.) "female pig").

Meaning "hollow part or piece for receiving and holding something" first recorded early 15c.; anatomical sense is from c.1600; domestic electrical sense first recorded 1885. Socket wrench is attested from 1837. The verb is 1530s, from the noun. Related: Socketed; socketing.

socket in Medicine

socket sock·et (sŏk'ĭt)
n.

The concave part of a joint that receives the articular end of a bone.
A hollow or concavity into which a part, such as an eye fits.

socket in Technology

networking
The Berkeley Unix mechansim for creating a virtual connection between processes. Sockets interface Unix's standard I/O with its network communication facilities. They can be of two types, stream (bi-directional) or datagram (fixed length destination-addressed messages). The socket library function socket() creates a communications end-point or socket and returns a file descriptor with which to access that socket. The socket has associated with it a socket address, consisting of a port number and the local host's network address.
Unix manual page: socket(2).
(1995-01-31)