socket

A socket is more than just a place to plug in your phone. Think of it as a hollow space or fitting made to receive and hold something else. It can be the wall outlet that takes a plug, the hollow part of your hip or shoulder where a bone fits, or the eye socket that holds and protects your eye. In a workshop, a socket is also the tool piece that fits over a nut or bolt so you can turn it with a wrench. In each case, the idea is the same: one part is made to hold or connect with another part.

At its core, a socket is a receptacle: a cavity, opening, or fitted part designed to receive and hold something else. This basic idea appears in many different fields. You use electrical sockets every day; the wall outlet takes the plug and connects your device to a source of power. "She pushed the plug firmly into the socket before turning on the lamp."

In the body, sockets help with movement and protection. Ball-and-socket joints, such as the shoulder and hip, work because the rounded end of one bone fits into the hollow part of another. Your eyes also rest in bony spaces called eye sockets. In dentistry, the hole in the jaw where a tooth sits or where one has been removed is called a dental socket.

Mechanics rely on sockets too. A socket wrench uses metal pieces called sockets that fit over nuts and bolts, making them easier to tighten or loosen. In prosthetics, the socket is the shaped part of the artificial limb that fits onto the person's body. In computing, a network socket is a software point where data is sent or received over a network. "The program opened a socket and waited for data from the server."

Whether it carries electricity, supports a joint, turns a bolt, or passes along data, a socket is the part made to receive another part and create a working connection.