cable's length

American  

Or cable length

noun

1. a nautical unit of length equivalent to 720 feet (219 meters) in the U.S. Navy and 608 feet (185 meters) in the British Navy.

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Etymology

Origin of cable's length

First recorded in 1545–55

Example Sentences

The next day the Boyne weighed anchor, and was towed by boats round from the bay of Baillif to the road of Basse Terre, where she anchored within a cable's length of the shore.

From An Account of the Campaign in the West Indies, in the Year 1794, Under the Command of their Excellencies Lieutenant General Sir Charles Grey, K.B., and Vice Admiral Sir John Jervis, K.B. by Willyams, Cooper

Smartly handled, she worked her way in through the narrow, land-locked entrance; then luffing up into the wind, she dropped anchor within a cable's length of the Golden Hope.

From The Quest of the 'Golden Hope' A Seventeenth Century Story of Adventure by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

A cable's length from shore, and just visible through the mist, was a large indistinct shape.

From Rounding up the Raider A Naval Story of the Great War by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

Here, lying about a cable's length off, was a submarine of the "E" type.

From The Fight for Constantinople A Story of the Gallipoli Peninsula by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

Arriving at about a cable's length from the ship they stopped, and demanded their money.

From The Log of a Sea-Waif Being Recollections of the First Four Years of My Sea Life by Bullen, Frank T.