socket

socket — noun

1. a device built into a wall or electrical equipment where a plug can be inserted

1.nounB1
Definition

a device built into a wall or electrical equipment where a plug can be inserted to draw electricity for powering appliances.

Example

Noa plugged the charger into the wall socket behind the desk.

collocation: wall socket

Padma's lamp stopped working because the socket in the ceiling had a loose wire.

Common collocations
  • wall socket
  • power socket
  • electrical socket
  • light socket
  • plug into a socket
Synonyms
  • outlet

    more common in American English; socket is neutral or British-leaning

  • receptacle

    more formal and technical, used in electrical engineering contexts

Antonyms
  • plug

    the part that is inserted into a socket

Usage Note

In British English socket usually refers to the wall-mounted power point. In American English outlet or wall outlet is more common for this sense.

Common Mistakes

Please plug the iron into the male socket.
Please plug the iron into the wall socket.
In English a socket is the receiving end (female); 'male socket' is not a natural expression.

2. a natural hollow in a bone or body part where something such as an eye or the ro

2.nounB2
Definition

a natural hollow in a bone or body part where something such as an eye or the rounded end of a joint is held and able to move.

Example

The doctor examined the patient's eye socket for signs of swelling after the accident.

collocation: eye socket

Christopher felt a sharp pain deep in his hip socket after the long run.

collocation: hip socket

Common collocations
  • eye socket
  • hip socket
  • empty socket
  • shoulder socket
  • joint socket
Synonyms
  • cavity

    a broader term for any hollow space; socket is more specific to body structures where something lodges

  • hollow

    less precise and lacks the specific fitting or articulation meaning of socket

Usage Note

The most common body-socket terms are eye socket (the hollow in the skull that contains the eyeball) and hip socket (the cavity in the pelvis where the head of the thigh bone articulates).

Common Mistakes

The ball fit into the socket of the bone.
The head of the thigh bone fits into the hip socket.
Use precise anatomical terms rather than vague descriptions.

socket — verb

Word family

  • sockets
    nounB1
  • socketed
    adjectiveC1
  • socketing
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three words refer to a device that provides access to electrical power, but they differ in register and regional use. Socket is the most neutral term and the most common in British English; a speaker in London would ask 'Is there a free socket?' Outlet is the standard term in American English for a wall-mounted power point and is increasingly understood globally. Receptacle is more formal and technical, appearing in electrical codes, engineering manuals, and product specifications rather than daily conversation. For example: 'The hotel room had a socket near the bed' (British), 'She plugged the vacuum into the wall outlet' (American), and 'The receptacle must be rated for 15 amps' (technical). A learner should use socket in neutral contexts and outlet when writing for a North American audience.

outlet ↗socket ↗receptacle

Common collocations

Nouns

  • socket wrench
  • socket set

Adverbs

Phrases

  • socket outlet
  • socket connection

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchAnglo-FrenchEnglish

Socket comes from Middle English soket, meaning the tip of a plowshare or a socket in a joint. This came from Anglo-French soket ('a little plowshare'), which is a diminutive of Old French soc (plowshare), tracing back to Latin soccus (a type of plowshare). By the 1400s the word had already shifted from describing the pointed end of a plow to describing any hollow receiver that something slots into. The modern electrical sense appeared in the late 1800s when household plugs and power points became common.