cable
noun
a heavy, strong rope.
cable
1 American
[kay-buhl]
/ ˈkeɪ bəl /
noun
-
cables
plural
-
a heavy, strong rope.
-
a very strong rope made of strands of metal wire, as used to support cable cars or suspension bridges.
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a cord of metal wire used to operate or pull a mechanism.
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Nautical.
-
a thick hawser made of rope, strands of metal wire, or chain.
-
-
Electricity. an insulated electrical conductor, often in strands, or a combination of electrical conductors insulated from one another.
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Architecture. one of a number of reedings set into the flutes of a column or pilaster.
verb (used with object)
-
cables,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cabled,
past participle, past
-
cabling
present participle
-
to send (a message) by cable.
-
to send a cablegram to.
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to fasten with a cable.
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to furnish with a cable.
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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)
-
cables,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cabled,
past participle, past
-
cabling
present participle
-
to send a message by cable.
-
to cable-stitch.
Cable
2
American
[kay-buhl]
/ ˈkeɪ bəl /
noun
cable
British
/ ˈkeɪbəl /
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)
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Also called: cable length, cable's length. a unit of length in nautical use that has various values, including 100 fathoms (600 feet)
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a wire or bundle of wires that conducts electricity See also coaxial cable
a submarine cable
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Also called: overseas telegram, international telegram, cablegram. a telegram sent abroad by submarine cable, radio, communications satellite, or by telephone line
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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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
cablesimple
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cablessimple
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have cabledperfect
-
has cabledperfect
-
am cablingprogressive
-
are cablingprogressive
-
is cablingprogressive
-
have been cablingperfect progressive
-
has been cablingperfect progressive
Past
-
cabledsimple
-
had cabledperfect
-
was cablingprogressive
-
were cablingprogressive
-
had been cablingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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
Explanation
A cable can be a strong and thick hemp or steel rope, or a conductor for sending electrical or optical signals. Cable has a bunch of meanings — ranging from communication cables to steel cables. With new online services that stream your favorite show on demand, cable television may become a thing of the past. If your adventurous kids have convinced you to install a zip line, then you better find a steel cable. In the age of email, chances are you'll never have a reason to send someone an overseas cable.
Vocabulary lists containing cable
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Their recent report covers television, cable and digital spots from Sept. 8 through 27.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
The addition of Disney+ makes the game available to casual fans who may not have cable or subscribe to a sports TV channel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
In inflation-adjusted terms, the AI sector is expected to borrow more this year than US cable operators did to build out the entire internet, or than railroad companies did during the 19th-century US rail boom.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
“That Thing You Do!” hides its nugget of pop music consensus inside another bygone bit of shared culture: the afternoon cable movie.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
She told the courier to give the top priority cable to the new assistant.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
On Sunday 4 October, around 5,000 people are expected to attend a march in Whitechapel to mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
In chapters set in the near present, Livia Cable is a childless, middle-aged piano instructor in rural eastern Tennessee.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
In exchange for the rights to market and distribute that SportsNet LA channel, Time Warner Cable agreed to pay the Dodgers $8.35 billion over 25 years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Cable internet providers such as Cox or Xfinity have cheaper plans in many regions, but upload and download speeds are not as fast as with fiber.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Tally smiled again, certain now that Dr. Cable knew when she was telling the truth.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
Vizag is a landing point for submarine internet cables linking the country to Singapore, so for India, the location of the 600-acre site -- more than 340 football pitches -- is ideal.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
Russia and Ukraine are using fiber-optic cables to connect drones directly to their operators.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
At the dawn of the internet, a select group of companies made a killing creating the equipment and business model for the system of glass strands bundled in cables, known as a fiber-optic network.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
"Burying the cables is expensive so if this is an alternative to make it a bit less of an eyesore, it's probably a good idea."
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Ahead of them, he could see towering cabinets full of interconnected wires and cables and silicon chips—what he thought of generically as computer stuff.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The author himself permitted an American actor who cabled to him in 1899 to ask his permission to take a creative liberty with his signature hero.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
Mr. Bondarev, part of the team working on arms control and disarmament at Russia’s Geneva mission, said he had seen misleading information cabled to Moscow in recent weeks.
From New York Times ● May 23, 2022
The van has a wifi system, which involves a router being cabled to an antenna on the van's roof that links up to satellites.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2021
But mainly, he said, the demolition company wants to give its cranes more maneuvering room by collapsing a freestanding wall that has been cabled to the wreckage to stabilize it.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2020
A Russian minister, Sergei Pavlov, head of the State Sports Committee, had cabled Spassky, furiously insisting that he return home to Moscow.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
They then use specialized compressed-air-jetting equipment to propel fiber-optic cabling through the conduit, which then runs across a river and into the city.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
Examples of electrical wire covered with vulcanised Indian rubber cabling were found.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
There are demand-driven capacity crunches in everything from fiber-optic cabling to electric power to water for cooling chip factories to undeveloped land for data centers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
They also integrated the required electronics, cabling, structural supports, and measurement tools.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 27, 2026
She is used to my calling her from airports anywhere from Boston to San Francisco, or Miami to Seattle, or, here lately, cabling her from Cairo, Accra, or the Holy City of Mecca.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
