sock
Pluralsocks
Pluralsocks
- 1A knitted or woven covering for the foot, worn inside a shoe.
She darned a hole in her wool sock by hand.
The store sells plain cotton socks in packs of six.
Note
The everyday garment has a surprisingly long pedigree. Old English socc meant a light shoe or slipper, borrowed from Latin soccus and traced back to a Greek name for a shoe. Over time the word passed from the shoe itself to the soft layer worn inside one. The plural is socks. The spelling sox is informal and nonstandard, so keep it out of careful writing.
- 2To strike a person or thing hard, especially with the fist.
The boxer socked his opponent with a powerful right hook.
Don't make me sock you in front of everyone.
Similarpunch, slug, hit, smack, belt
Note
Slang that kept its punch through decades of fiction. In Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Roxton fears a friend will "sock someone", and J. D. Salinger writes of having to "sock somebody in the jaw". The target is the direct object, and the spot hit follows with in. Sock it to someone, as in James Jones's From Here to Eternity, is figurative: to come down hard on them.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- In Arthur Conan Doyle's fiction, Lord Roxton fears a friend will "sock someone". gutenberg.org
- J. D. Salinger writes of having to "sock somebody in the jaw". aperturecm.com
- Sock it to someone occurs figuratively in James Jones's From Here to Eternity, meaning to come down hard on someone. en.wiktionary.org
- 3A violent blow, especially a punch with the fist.
She landed a clean sock right on his jaw.
A quick sock to the ribs left him gasping for air.
Similarpunch, blow, slug, smack, wallop
Note
The blow as a thing you give or take, usually aimed somewhere specific. Delos W. Lovelace's King Kong (1932) asks whether "that sock in the jaw" still hurts. Sock in the jaw is the set phrase, matching the verb's sock somebody in the jaw. The noun belongs to slang; punch or blow is the neutral word.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Delos W. Lovelace wrote the novelization King Kong. upload.wikimedia.org
- King Kong was first published in 1932. rarebooksleuth.com
- King Kong contains the words "that sock in the jaw" in a question about whether the blow still hurts; Driscoll asks Ann. upload.wikimedia.org
- 4A false secondary online account used to conceal a person's real identity, often to mislead others or back up their own claims.
The forum banned him after spotting his sock in the comments.
Moderators deleted several socks pushing the same false story.
Note
A clipping of sock puppet, at home in the talk of forum moderators and online communities. The image is a hand inside a sock, speaking in a voice that seems to belong to someone else. Outside online contexts the short form can puzzle readers, so sock puppet in full is the safer choice in general writing.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Sock, meaning an alternative online account, is a shortened form of sock puppet. en.wiktionary.org
- The underlying image is a puppet made from a sock placed over a hand. en.wiktionary.org
- 5A lower leg of a cat or dog colored differently (usually white) from the color pattern on the rest of the animal.
The tabby had a single white sock that set off her dark coat.
Judges noted the neat white socks on all four of the dog's legs.
Similarmitten
Note
Clothing lends its name to the marking: a pale lower leg looks as if the animal has pulled on a sock. Mitten is used for the same patch. It keeps the image but moves it from foot to hand, a natural fit for a cat's paw.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- The animal marking uses the clothing image: a pale lower leg resembles a sock. en.wiktionary.org
- Mitten is also used for a differently colored paw of a cat or dog. en.wiktionary.org
- The comparison shifts from footwear to handwear: a mitten is a covering for the hand. en.wiktionary.org
- 6Short form of windsock.
The sock stood straight out, warning of strong crosswinds.
Ground crew replaced the faded sock on the control tower mast.
Note
Pilots' radio shorthand for the open-ended cone that shows wind direction and relative wind speed at an airfield. In a 1985 National Transportation Safety Board report, a crew tells the tower that "our sock sitting in front of us gives us a pretty good tail wind", reading the sock as an instrument. The clipping is informal; outside the cockpit, write windsock.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Sock is an informal aviation shortening of windsock, attested in pilots' radio communication. en.wiktionary.org
- A windsock is a cone open at both ends that indicates wind direction and speed near a runway. libraryonline.erau.edu
- A 1985 National Transportation Safety Board report records the quotation. libraryonline.erau.edu
- A crew tells the tower that "our sock sitting in front of us gives us a pretty good tail wind", using the windsock to assess conditions. libraryonline.erau.edu
- 7A soft sleeve fitted over a microphone to reduce wind noise and unwanted sound.
She fitted a foam sock onto the boom microphone before the interview.
Without a sock, the recording was full of low wind rumble.
Similarwindscreen
- 8Used to represent the sound of a punch or heavy blow.
Sock! The blow knocked him clean off his stool.
And then, sock! Her fist connected with his jaw.
Note
The comic-book sound of a fist landing. The word is onomatopoeic and unrelated to the garment, though Portuguese soco, "a punch", makes a near echo. The same imitative word lies behind all the hitting meanings. The Canberra Times reached for it in 1989, lined up with Whap, Biff and Pow, to greet Batman's return to Gotham City.
- 9To throw something, especially with force or in a hurry.
She socked the keys across the table to him.
Just sock me the wrench when you're done with it.
Similarchuck, toss, throw, fling, sling
Note
The blow-word turned to throwing: what is socked here travels across a room rather than landing on someone. It is slang and always takes an object, as in sock me the wrench. Because the hitting verb shares the form, a sentence like sock him the ball can sound like a threat. Throw or toss removes the doubt.
- 10Short form of gun sock.
She pulled the sock off the rifle and checked the barrel.
He stored the hunting rifle in a silicone-treated sock between seasons.
Note
Shooters' shorthand for the long tubular cloth cover, closed at one end, that slides over a firearm. It offers basic protection, not the defense of a hard case. Like the airfield clipping, it is informal. In writing for a general reader, gun sock in full avoids any confusion with the garment.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- A gun sock is a long cloth firearm cover closed at one end. brownells.com
- The cover slides over a firearm. cabelas.com
- It offers basic protection rather than the protection of a hard case. cabelas.com
- 11Short form of socket.
Note
Programmers' shorthand for a network socket: one endpoint of a two-way link that lets programs communicate across a network. Socket has many other meanings, among them the light-bulb opening, the hollow in a bone and the wrench head. Only the networking one is clipped this way, so in ordinary prose write socket.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Sock is a clipping of socket in computing and networking. en.wiktionary.org
- A network socket is an endpoint for two-way communication between programs across a network. docs.oracle.com
- Socket also denotes a light-bulb opening, a hollow in a bone, and the head fitted to a socket wrench. en.wiktionary.org
- 12The cutting blade of a plow that slices through the soil; a plowshare.
The blacksmith forged a new sock to replace the broken one.
Stony ground quickly dulled the plow's sock.
Note
A homograph with its own history: this word comes from French soc, a plowshare, and is unrelated to the garment or the punch. Edward Wakefield's An Account of Ireland (1812) notes that in County Wexford "the sock in general is of cast iron". There it is a farming term set down in a statistical survey.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts
- The plowshare sense of sock comes from French soc. en.wiktionary.org
- French soc means a plowshare. en.wiktionary.org
- This homograph has a separate origin from sock meaning the garment or a punch. en.wiktionary.org
- Edward Wakefield wrote An Account of Ireland, Statistical and Political, published in 1812. catalogue.nli.ie
- Wakefield's passage concerns County Wexford and includes the exact words "the sock in general is of cast iron". en.wiktionary.org
- The quotation uses sock as a farming term in a statistical account of Ireland. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 13Extremely successful, especially as a popular hit.
The producer promised a sock show that would fill every seat.
His comeback tour was nothing short of sock.
Similarsensational, successful, triumphant
Note
Show-business praise from the trade papers: a 1960 Billboard review hails a "sock performance on a catchy rhythm ditty". The adjective is not comparable, so a show is sock and never socker. It is also dated slang now. Used today, it reads as period color rather than current praise, which makes it suited to pastiche more than reviews.
- 14A light, low shoe worn by comic actors in ancient Greece and Rome; a synonym of soccus.
He stepped onstage in a sock, signaling that the play was a comedy.
The troupe kept their socks and masks in a wooden chest backstage.
Oppositebuskin
Note
A stage word: the comic actor's low shoe, the Latin soccus in English dress, and the same word that gave the everyday foot covering its name. It is historical and uncommon, met mainly in writing about the ancient theater. There it stands beside Thalia, the muse of comedy, as an emblem of the comic stage.
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Practice
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Origins
From Middle English socke, from Old English socc ("sock, light shoe, slipper"), a West Germanic borrowing from Latin soccus ("a light shoe or slipper"), from Ancient Greek súkkhos ("a kind of shoe"), probably from Phrygian or an Anatolian language. It is related to Dutch sok, German Socke, and Swedish sock.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts
- The garment word descends through Middle English socke from Old English socc, denoting a sock or light footwear. en.wiktionary.org
- The Old English word represents a West Germanic borrowing from Latin soccus. etymonline.com
- Latin soccus denoted a light shoe or slipper. etymonline.com
- The Latin word comes from Ancient Greek súkkhos, a footwear term. en.wiktionary.org
- A probable earlier source is Phrygian or an Anatolian language. en.wiktionary.org
- Dutch sok, German Socke, and Swedish sock are related words. en.wiktionary.org
Onomatopoeic in origin, imitating the sound of a blow; compare Portuguese soco ("a punch").
From French soc.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- Sock, meaning a ploughshare, comes from French soc. en.wiktionary.org
From socket.