tube socks

Meaning

1. 1nounplural

   Plain, stretchy socks knitted as a straight tube with no separate heel, usually long and often white with colored stripes at the top.

   Grammar: Used in the plural like other socks: I bought three pairs of tube socks.

   Patterns

   • a pair of tube socks
   • wear tube socks

   He pulled his white tube socks up to his knees before the basketball game.

   I bought a six-pack of tube socks at the discount store.

   Grandpa's gym bag was full of old tube socks with red and blue stripes.

Word forms

Common combinations

a pair of tube socks

I grabbed a pair of tube socks from the drawer.

white tube socks

He wore white tube socks with his running shoes.

knee-high tube socks

Knee-high tube socks were popular in the 1970s.

striped tube socks

The team wore striped tube socks as part of the retro uniform.

pull up your tube socks

He pulled up his tube socks and stepped onto the court.

Synonyms and how they differ

athletic socks

This is a broader term for sports socks, and they may be shaped to fit the heel, while tube socks have no heel at all.

crew socks

Crew socks stop mid-calf and usually have a shaped heel, whereas tube socks are a simple straight tube.

gym socks

Gym socks describes what the socks are used for rather than how they are made.

Word family

sock noun

a knitted covering for the foot

tube sock noun

the singular form

tube noun

a long hollow shape, the idea behind the name

Commonly confused: tube socks or tube top?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “tube socks”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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