Obs. [Of obscure origin.] trans. To sew (a corpse) in or into a shroud. Also with up.
1584. R. Scot, Discov. Witchcr., III. ii. (1886), 33. They which socke the corps. Ibid., VI. vii. 99. Needels wherewith dead bodies are sowne or sockt into their sheetes.
a. 1627. Middleton, Witch, I. ii. The same needles … That sews and socks up dead men in their sheets.
1643. Sussex Arch. Coll., XX. 105. Paid more for a sheet to socke her in, 2s. 81/2d., and for laying her forthe and socking of her, 2s. 21/2d.
Hence † Socking-sheet, a winding-sheet.
1691. Wood, Ath. Oxon., I. 60. It was his custom … every night to hang his shroud and socking or burial-sheet at his beds feet.
