Socket Meaning
/ˈsɒkɪt/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAny of various concave objects (or portions of larger objects) that envelop a counterpart object.
nounAny of various concave objects (or portions of larger objects) that envelop a counterpart object., An opening into which a plug or other connecting part is designed to fit (e.g. a light bulb socket).
Sentence Examples
The eye socket is the bone receptacle in which the eye fits.
Take the fork out of the electric socket.
CEFR Practice Quiz
To charge his phone, he pushed the charger into the electrical ____ on the wall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please plug the desk lamp into the wall ____ so we can have enough light for our reading.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English socket, soket, from Anglo-Norman soket (“spearhead”), diminutive of Old French soc (“plowshare”), from Vulgar Latin *soccus, a word borrowed from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *sukkos (compare modern Welsh swch (“plowshare”)), literally "pig's snout", from Proto-Indo-European *suH-.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Each seat must have a 230V socket, a USB socket, a coat hook, reading light and cup holder."
— 2021 December 29, “Network News: HS2 rolling stock”, in RAIL, number 947, page 7:
"Chriſt calls his Miniſters, Lux Mundi, the light of the World, Matth. 5. 14. therefore they must be alwayes giving forth their luſtre; their light must not go out till it be in the ſocket or till violent death as an extinguisher put it out."
— 1671, Thomas Watson, The Beatitudes, page 8:
"The candle burned to its socket, the fire went out, the night air grew heavy with silence, before Herbert lay down."
— 1856, L. S. Lavenu, chapter XXXIII, in Erlesmere; or, Contrasts of Character, volume 1, London: Smith, Elder & Co., page 336:
"Her head and trunk were carved out of, or rather into, the bole of a great red cedar. She seemed to be part of the tree itself, as if she had grown there at its heart, and the carver had only chipped away the outer wood so that you could see her. Her arms were spliced and socketed to the trunk, and were flung wide in a circling, compelling movement."
— 1941, Emily Carr, chapter 6, in Klee Wyck:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
To charge his phone, he pushed the charger into the electrical ____ on the wall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please plug the desk lamp into the wall ____ so we can have enough light for our reading.