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Also called enarthrosis. Anatomy, Zoology. a joint in which the rounded end of one bone fits into a cuplike end of the other bone, allowing for relatively free rotary motion, as at the hip or shoulder.
Also called ball joint. a similar joint between rods, links, pipes, etc., consisting of a ball-like termination on one part held within a concave, spherical socket on the other.
Historical Examples

Igimang, ball-and-socket joint of harpoon and lance; from igip, he throws it off.
The Central Eskimo Franz Boas

Supported on a tripod by means of a ball-and-socket joint and screw-tightening device.
Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers Silvio A. Bedini

It is a bath that can be rocked, or inclined in any direction, for its center rests upon a ball-and-socket joint.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 315, January 14, 1882 Various

Fitted with a ball-and-socket joint for mounting on a tripod, and complete with wooden field case.
Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers Silvio A. Bedini

In this case she adopted a ball-and-socket joint—the kind by which older astronomers mounted their telescopes.
A Book of Exposition Homer Heath Nugent

The elevating and traversing gear was combined in one lever on a ball-and-socket joint.
Four-Day Planet Henry Beam Piper

The apparatus is mounted with a ball-and-socket joint upon a wooden stand, as shown in Fig. 171.
Torpedoes and Torpedo Warfare C. W. Sleeman

A leveling head or ball-and-socket joint on the top of the tripod will be found of material aid in leveling the instrument.
The Boy Mechanic, Book 2 Various

noun
a coupling between two rods, tubes, etc, that consists of a spherical part fitting into a spherical socket, allowing free movement within a specific conical volume
(anatomy) Also called multiaxial joint. a bony joint, such as the hip joint, in which a rounded head fits into a rounded cavity, allowing a wide range of movement

ball-and-socket joint n.
A multiaxial joint in which a sphere on the head of one bone fits into a rounded cavity in the other bone, as in the hip joint. Also called cotyloid joint, enarthrodial joint, enarthrosis, spheroid joint.
ball-and-socket joint
(bôl’ən-sŏk’ĭt)

A joint, such as the shoulder or hip joint, in which a spherical knob or knoblike part of one bone fits into a cavity or socket of another, so that some degree of rotary motion is possible in every direction.

A mechanical device consisting of a spherical knob at the end of a shaft that fits securely into a socket. Ball-and-socket joints are used to connect parts of a machine that require rotary movement in nearly all directions. Ball-and-socket joints allow the front wheels of a car to be turned by the steering mechanism.