Brewer's: Sock

[comedy]. The Greek comic actors used to wear a sandal and sock. The difference between the sock and the tragic buskin was this- the sock went only to the ankle, but the buskin extended to the knee. (See Buskin.)

Then to the well-trod stage anon, If Jonson's learned sock be on.

Milton: L'Allegro.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Related Content