Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An opening or a cavity into which an inserted part is designed to fit: a light-bulb socket.
- n. Anatomy The concave part of a joint that receives the end of a bone.
- n. Anatomy A hollow or concavity into which a part, such as the eye, fits.
- v. To furnish with or insert into a socket.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An opening or cavity into which anything is fitted; any hollow thing or place which receives and holds something else.
- n. Specifically A small hollow tube or depression in a candlestick to hold a candle. Also called nozle.
- n. In anatomy, specifically, the hollow of one part which receives another; the concavity or excavation of an articulation: as, an eye-socket; the socket of the hip.
- n. In mining, the end of a shot-hole, when this remains visible after the shot has been fired.
- n. In well-boring, a tool with various forms of gripping mechanism, for seizing and lifting tools dropped in the tube.
- n. In the just, a defense of steel attached to the saddle, and serving to protect the legs and thighs. Compare bur, 3 . Also socquette.
- To provide with or place in a socket.
- n. In golf, the neck of a club into which the shaft runs.
- n. A chuck or holder on the end of a drill-spindle having a taper-hole to receive the corresponding taper-shank of the drill or of another socket.
Wiktionary
- n. mechanics An opening into which a plug or other connecting part is designed to fit (e.g. a light bulb socket).
- n. anatomy A hollow into a bone which a part fits, such as an eye, or another bone, in the case of a joint.
- n. computing A two-way named pipe on Unix and Unix-like systems, used for interprocess communication.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An opening into which anything is fitted; any hollow thing or place which receives and holds something else.
- n. Especially, the hollow tube or place in which a candle is fixed in the candlestick.
- n. (Electricity) the receptacle of an electric lamp into which a light bulb is inserted, containing contacts to conduct electricity to the bulb.
- n. (Electricity) the receptacle fixed in a wall and connected by conductive wiring to an electrical supply, containing contacts to conduct electricity, and into which the plug of an electrical device is inserted; -- called also a
wall socket oroutlet . Thesocket will typically have two or three contacts; if three, the third is connected to a ground for safety.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a receptacle into which an electric device can be inserted
- n. receptacle where something (a pipe or probe or end of a bone) is inserted
- n. a bony hollow into which a structure fits
Etymologies
- From Anglo-Norman soket, "spearhead" (diminutive of Old French soc: plowshare), from Vulgar Latin soccus. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English soket, from Anglo-Norman, spearhead, diminutive of soc, plowshare, probably of Celtic origin; see sū- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“For reasons that I haven't bothered to figure out, the socket module is named _socket in the minipython distribution.”
“For Exchange, five VMs per socket is more often typical.”
“Things to go shopping for in Malaysia: a powerboard where every socket is a universal socket.”
When Your Universal Adaptor Doesn’t Fit | Lifehacker Australia
“The socket is always connected to the neutral wire, so no big deal … unless the trouble light is plugged in to an outlet with reversed polarity.”
“The version with the E27 socket is recommended when a soft ambience is required, whereas the version with the G12 socket and metal-halogen light source is recommended for environments in which a high level of light and lower energy consumption is needed.”
“This limited edition Revival features all the benefits of a DAB radio as well as rotary tuning and volume controls, RDS station name display, a stereo line in socket for iPod/MP3 playback, headphone socket and portability.”
“A socket is identified by the combination of source address, source port, destination address, destination address.”
ASP.net and IIS 2 million pageviews per hour « The Paradigm Shift
“Allow it record fron a mic in socket at selectable sample rates just like the iRiver ifp799, and give it a good powered mic preamp with clean flat A to D conversion.”
“This "safe" -- really a cache -- disguised as a wall-socket is pretty clever and goes for a mere $10.”
“Okay - the lighter socket is what I wanted - for things like cd player car kits and cell phone chargers.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘socket’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
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Mother-of-All-Saints
Some alternatives to calling it your 'stuff'.
Mount of Venus, nameless, name-it-not, omnibus, the novelty, niche, nest, moss-rose, peach, old-ding, old woman, the nonsuch and 115 more...
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webdev
random webdev lingo used primarily in computer programming.
( open list, randomness, technical jargon, geek speak )
more:
ajax, user, admin, frontend, backend, database, sql, protocol, call, dom, layout, ui and 439 more... -
Bracket and such
bracket, bucket, cricket, docket, jacket, locket, packet, picket, racket, rocket, socket, sprocket and 17 more...
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connexion
link, joining, junction, concatenation, hookup, isthmus, ligament, articulation, node, tie, relation, intersection and 86 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, S
scrunch, solace, sabotage, saccade, sacerdotal, sacrilegious, sacristy, snappy, skew, steadfast, scowl, scorch and 781 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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personal distaste
good grief, I'm getting irritable.
salvo, taboo, redoubtable, foment, intransigence, disingenuous, infarction, obviate, junta, aetiology, expedited, gerrymandering and 201 more...
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merfee's Words
supple, dichotomy, relish, rhapsody, pneumonoultramicr..., embrace, ishmael, ebullient, recalcitrant, elegy, char, lugubrious and 522 more...
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whaling terms
Terms defined in the glossary of Clifford W. Ashley's "Yankee Whaler".
advance, adze, after house, after oar, agent, air up, alow, ambergris, apeak, article, away, bailer and 299 more...
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Vocabulary 3
desperate, trial, swerve, flower-pot, bracelet, pendant, drawer, plug, socket, cast, fluorescent tube, case and 55 more...
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Tool's name
name for the common used tools
wrench, hole punch, screwer driver, wrech, crescent wrench, slip pliers, socket, chet, wratchet, chuck drill, caliper, torx and 2 more...
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new glasses
tomorrow I am getting new glasses because my other ones were run over by a car
ocular, retina, lens, optometrist, optician, ophthalmologist, frames, optical, vision, socket, pupil, iris and 4 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for socket.

reesetee That's an American stress? I didn't realize that. I use both pronunciations, depending on how I'm using the word (ADD-ress for noun, addRESS for verb). Aug 6, 2008
bilby Hmmmm, stress is workable even with adDRESS although involves duffing the as thee. Wish I was as good as you with the IPA! Aug 6, 2008
sarra Oh gosh! I haven't heard that for ages. It does annoy me that it's written with American stress though (ADdress not adDRESS).
socket makes me a little bit queasy. Learning about dry socket only intensified that feeling, so I'm not sure quite where it came from. Aug 6, 2008
bilby "If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,
And the bus is interrupted as a very last resort.
And the address of the memory makes your floppy disk abort,
Then the socket packet pocket has an error to report!"
- anon. Dec 19, 2007