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sock·et       (sŏk'ĭt)  Pronunciation Key  n.   An opening or a cavity into which an inserted part is designed to fit: a light-bulb socket. Anatomy The concave part of a joint that receives the end of a bone. A hollow or concavity into which a part, such as the eye, fits. tr.v.   sock·et·ed, sock·et·ing, sock·ets To furnish with or insert into a socket. [Middle English soket, from Anglo-Norman, spearhead, diminutive of soc, plowshare, probably of Celtic origin; see sū- in Indo-European roots.]

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socket 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

socket
noun
1.	a bony hollow into which a structure fits
2.	receptacle where something (a pipe or probe or end of a bone) is inserted
3.	a receptacle into which an electric device can be inserted

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

socket 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)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Socket

Sock"et\, n. [OE. soket, a dim. through OF. fr. L. soccus. See Sock a covering for the foot.]

1. An opening into which anything is fitted; any hollow thing or place which receives and holds something else; as, the sockets of the teeth.

His eyeballs in their hollow sockets sink. --Dryden.

2. Especially, the hollow tube or place in which a candle is fixed in the candlestick.

And in the sockets oily bubbles dance. --Dryden.

Socket bolt (Mach.), a bolt that passes through a thimble that is placed between the parts connected by the bolt.

Socket chisel. Same as Framing chisel. See under Framing.

Socket pipe, a pipe with an expansion at one end to receive the end of a connecting pipe.

Socket pole, a pole armed with iron fixed on by means of a socket, and used to propel boats, etc. [U.S.]

Socket wrench, a wrench consisting of a socket at the end of a shank or rod, for turning a nut, bolthead, etc., in a narrow or deep recess.

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SOCKET

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