sock

plural socks · informal nonstandard plural sox

1. businessA knitted or woven covering for the foot.

   Synonyms: sockie

2. historicaluncommonSynonym of soccus, a light shoe worn by Ancient Greek and Roman comedic actors.

   Synonyms: Thalia, soccus

3. The lower leg of an animal (of an animal) that is a different color (usually white) from the color pattern on the rest of the animal.

   Synonyms: mitten

4. A sleeve for a microphone to reduce noise.

   Turns out a sock' is a soft cylindrical cover that goes over the mic. The sock sat forlornly on the table. It looked lonely. It reminded me of me. Aaron told me I punctuated my ps too much — I'm too punchy — and that I needed to soften how I spoke. He told me to put the sock on the mic.

   2024, Minelle Mahtani, May It Have a Happy Ending, page 42

5. abbreviationellipsisinformalengineeringEllipsis of gun sock.
6. InternetabbreviationellipsisEllipsis of sock puppet.
7. abbreviationellipsisinformalaeronauticsEllipsis of windsock.

   1 more example

   At 1331:58, UA Flight 757 reported that it was ready for takeoff on runway 35R. However, at 1332:05, 7 seconds later, it reported, "Ah, this is seven fifty seven, our sock sitting in front of us gives us a pretty good tail wind so we're not ready to go yet." The controller asked the flight to advise him when conditions were better.

   1985 March 21, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.1 History of the Flight”, in Aircraft Accident Report: United Airlines Flight 663, Boeing 727-222, N7647U, Denver, Colorado, May 31, 1984, page 4

alternative zock

1. The sound of a punch or powerful blow.

   Whap, Biff, Ooooof, Sock, Pow, Zok! Batman is back. Gotham City is again leaving its law and order in the hands of a man who wears plastic underpants over his tights.

   1989 June 5, The Canberra Times, Australia Captial Territory, page 10, column 2

present singular third person socks · participle present socking · participle past socked · past socked · alternative zock

1. slangtransitiveTo hit or strike violently; to deliver a blow to.

   What you should be is not yellow at all. If you're supposed to sock somebody in the jaw, and you sort of feel like doing it, you should do it.

   1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, chapter 13, in The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC

   4 more examples

   "We must get the old dear out," said Lord Roxton to Malone. "He'll be had for manslaughter if we don't. What I mean, he's not responsible - he'll sock someone and be lagged for it."

   1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “In which Professor Challenger Goes Forth to Battle”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019

   They may let you off the first time because you're new maybe. But the second time they'll sock it to you, give you a couple of days in the Hole, then throw you in Number Two.

   1951, James Jones, From Here to Eternity, Book Four

   He wondered how many people were destitute that same night even in his own prosperous country, how many homes were shanties, how many husbands were drunk and wives socked, and how many children were bullied, abused or abandoned.

   1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Eternal City”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 428

   As part of ABC’s coverage of the police “blue riot” that ensued in Chicago – batons cracking student skulls – Vidal calls Buckley a “crypto-Nazi” for justifying the brutality, to which Buckley snaps: “Listen to me you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in the goddamn face and you’ll stay plastered.”

   2015 August 1, Ed Vulliamy, quoting William F. Buckley Jr., “‘Don’t call me a crypto-Nazi!’ The lost heart of political debate”, in The Guardian

2. slangtransitiveTo throw.

plural socks · alternative zock

1. slangA violent blow; a punch.

   ‘Say, does that sock in the jaw hurt any more? It was a dinger.’

   1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 21

alternative zock

1. datednot comparableslangExtremely successful.

   1960, Billboard magazine reviewer Sock performance on a catchy rhythm ditty with infectious tempo.

   Synonyms: socko

plural socks

1. A ploughshare.

   In the county of Wexford, where the beam was much shorter[…] the sock in general is of cast iron.

   1812, Edward Wakefield, An Account of Ireland, Statistical and Political

plural socks

1. abbreviationclippingcomputingClipping of socket.