cable

¹

[key-buhl]

noun

1. a heavy, strong rope.

2. a very strong rope made of strands of metal wire, as used to support cable cars or suspension bridges.

3. a cord of metal wire used to operate or pull a mechanism.

4. Nautical.

   1. a thick hawser made of rope, strands of metal wire, or chain.

   2. cable's length.

5. Electricity.,  an insulated electrical conductor, often in strands, or a combination of electrical conductors insulated from one another.

6. cablegram.

7. cable television.

8. cable-stitch.

9. Architecture.,  one of a number of reedings set into the flutes of a column or pilaster.

verb (used with object)

cabled, cabling 

1. to send (a message) by cable.

2. to send a cablegram to.

3. to fasten with a cable.

4. to furnish with a cable.

5. to join (cities, parts of a country, etc.) by means of a cable television network.

   The state will be completely cabled in a few years.

verb (used without object)

cabled, cabling 

1. to send a message by cable.

2. to cable-stitch.

Cable

²

[key-buhl]

noun

1. George Washington, 1844–1925, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.

cable

/ ˈkeɪbəl /

noun

1. a strong thick rope, usually of twisted hemp or steel wire

2. nautical an anchor chain or rope

3. 1. a unit of distance in navigation, equal to one tenth of a sea mile (about 600 feet)

   2. Also called: cable length.  cable's length. a unit of length in nautical use that has various values, including 100 fathoms (600 feet)

4. a wire or bundle of wires that conducts electricity See also coaxial cable

   a submarine cable

5. Also called: overseas telegram.  international telegram.  cablegram. a telegram sent abroad by submarine cable, radio, communications satellite, or by telephone line

6. See cable stitch

7. short for cable television

verb

1. to send (a message) to (someone) by cable

2. (tr) to fasten or provide with a cable or cables

3. (tr) to supply (a place) with or link (a place) to cable television

Other Word Forms

• cablelike adjective
• recable verb
• uncabled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cable¹

1175–1225; Middle English, probably < Old North French *cable < Late Latin capulum lasso; compare Latin capulāre to rope, halter (cattle), akin to capere to take

Word History and Origins

Origin of cable¹

C13: from Old Norman French, from Late Latin capulum halter

Example Sentences

The leader of the rail workers union Fectrans claimed that some workers had complained that problems with the tension of the cable that hauls the carriages had made braking difficult.

From BBC

State fire investigators concluded that the 2022 Fairview fire was ignited when Edison’s equipment came in contact with a cable owned by Frontier Communications.

From Los Angeles Times

The two carriages on the Glória route are attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable, which is pulled by electric motors.

From BBC

They have raised more than £21,000 through a crowdfunding campaign for "flags, poles and cable ties".

From BBC

Portugal is in mourning after at least 17 people died and some 20 more were injured when Lisbon's famous funicular cable railway derailed on Wednesday evening.

From BBC

Related Words

• cord 
• link 
• rope 
• wire