cable

[key-buh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cable ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a heavy, strong rope.

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

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

Nautical.

a thick hawser made of rope, strands of metal wire, or chain.
cable's length.

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

cablegram.

cable television.

cable-stitch.

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

verb (used with object), ca·bled, ca·bling.

to send (a message) by cable.

to send a cablegram to.

to fasten with a cable.

to furnish with a cable.

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), ca·bled, ca·bling.

to send a message by cable.

to cable-stitch.

Origin of cable

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

Related formsca·ble·like, adjectivere·ca·ble, verb, re·ca·bled, re·ca·bling.un·ca·bled, adjective

Cable

[key-buh l]

noun

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cable

cord, rope, wire, link, boom, coaxial

Examples from the Web for cable

Contemporary Examples of cable

Almost all of the network and cable news channels said that they would not be showing the cartoons either.
Politicians Only Love Journalists When They're Dead
Luke O’Neil
January 8, 2015
Well, one expert I talked to said that physically it involves little more than a $20 cable.
Red Tape and Black Boxes: Why We Keep ‘Losing’ Airliners in 2014
Clive Irving
December 29, 2014
HBOGo has become such a massive success for cable network HBO that they will start to offer the service as a stand-alone option.
Binge Watching is the New Bonding Time
The Daily Beast
December 10, 2014
Then again, cable news ratings are down more or less across the board, and Americans find much of the media untrustworthy.
Wanted: Less Terrible Political Coverage on TV
Matt Lewis
November 19, 2014
You would not know it by listening to cable news pundits, and no politician will ever admit it.
Reality Check: There Are No Swing Voters
Goldie Taylor
November 13, 2014

Historical Examples of cable

"The cable would have handled that end of it, I guess," she said, succinctly.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
It was the only cable we used for the first twenty-four hours.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
We brought the ship up with this cable, but not until she got it nearly to the better end.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
The following letter, received by the French cable, explains itself.
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 2, April 9, 1870
Various
The action was fought nearly at the distance of a cable's length from the enemy.
The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson
Robert Southey

British Dictionary definitions for cable

cable

noun

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

nautical an anchor chain or rope

a unit of distance in navigation, equal to one tenth of a sea mile (about 600 feet)
Also called: cable length, cable's lengtha unit of length in nautical use that has various values, including 100 fathoms (600 feet)

a wire or bundle of wires that conducts electricitya submarine cable See also coaxial cable

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

See cable stitch

short for cable television

verb

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

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

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

Word Origin for cable

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cable

c.1200, from Old North French cable, from Medieval Latin capulum "lasso, rope, halter for cattle," from Latin capere "to take, seize" (see capable). Technically, in nautical use, a rope 10 or more inches around; in non-nautical use, a rope of wire (not hemp or fiber). Given a new range of senses in 19c.: Meaning "message received by telegraphic cable" is from 1883 (short for cable message). Cable car is from 1879. Cable television first attested 1963; shortened form cable is from 1972.

c.1500, "to tie up with cables;" 1871, American English, "to transmit by cable;" from cable (n.). Related: Cabled; cabling.