Socks are articles of clothing that cover the feet (footwear) and also, typically, some portion of the lower leg (legwear). The foot is among the heaviest producers of sweat and pheromones—chemical signals used for non-verbal communication among/between species to influence a range of behaviors from sexual attraction to alarm responses—in the body, able to produce over a pint of perspiration per day. Socks help to absorb this sweat and draw it to areas where air can evaporate the perspiration and carry the pheromones a greater distance away. They also provide warmth by trapping body heat that would otherwise be radiated away to the local environment and cushioning against other footwear they are worn inside of.

Similar to feet but less commonly, socks can become sexualized to some as elements of a paraphilia (a/k/a a sock fetish) or related partialism.

Not to be confused with

If it doesn't cover part of the feet, it shouldn't be tagged as footwear; socks are a type of footwear.

• footless legwear
• leg warmers
• leggings – similar to pants but skin-tight and made from a thicker material that covers the wearer from the waist to anywhere between the knee and the ankle
• pantyhose
• stockings – very closely related to socks, though typically constructed from a tightly elastic material that is sheer (transparent, to varying degrees) in appearance
• knee highs
• thigh highs
• tights

See also

• footwear:
• boots
• shoes
• sock sniffing
• sockjob – a footjob performed while wearing socks
• socks only