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

She was connected to an oxygen supply via a translucent green cable she referred to as her “dog leash.”

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In their final, harrowing moments, they may have tried to pull it together with cables.

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Musk went to Memphis himself in the summer of 2024, actually helping to build out cabling to ensure the chips being installed by his team were able to simultaneously process huge amounts of information.

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Broadcast news has lost relevance for some in the era of opinion-oriented cable news, social media and podcasts.

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In the 1962 Carter Mountain case, the commission began blocking cable TV systems from competing with local broadcasters.

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Related Words

• cord 
• link 
• rope 
• wire