{
  "id": "socket.electrical",
  "term": "socket",
  "sense": "electrical",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "published",
  "level": 9,
  "arena": "E7",
  "domain": "technology",
  "style": null,
  "definition": "A device with holes that connects a plug to electricity so that a machine can have energy.",
  "folk_gloss": null,
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "device.tool",
      "holes.empty-regions",
      "connects.verb",
      "plug.electrical",
      "electricity.electrical",
      "machine.constructed-system",
      "energy.capacity"
    ],
    "interaction": "A device shaped with holes receives a plug; their touch completes a path along which electricity flows to a machine.",
    "novel_properties": [
      "detachable power connection",
      "standardized fit",
      "energy available at a fixed point"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "text": "The International Space Station uses standardized power sockets to run life-support systems at 28 volts DC.",
      "domain": "engineering"
    },
    {
      "text": "In 1983, the lights stayed on during the World Series because Milwaukee’s stadium had grounded electrical sockets.",
      "domain": "institutions"
    },
    {
      "text": "A MacBook charger plugs into a wall socket providing 120 volts in a Cambridge, Massachusetts apartment.",
      "domain": "everyday life"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "id": "device.tool",
      "type": "is-a",
      "note": "a socket is a device specialized for delivering power"
    },
    {
      "id": "plug.electrical",
      "type": "contrasts-with",
      "note": "matched pair: the plug enters, the socket receives"
    }
  ],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [],
  "closed": true,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "hand",
    "date": "2026-07-31",
    "confidence": 1.0,
    "sources": [
      "repaired from atlas-trap-demo: emergence record contradicted the definition"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-socket.electrical"
}