Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense cables, present participle cabling, past tense, past participle cabled
1. variable noun
A cable is a thick wire, or a group of wires inside a rubber or plastic covering, which is used to carry electricity or electronic signals.
...overhead power cables.
...strings of coloured lights with weatherproof cable.
2. variable noun
A cable is a kind of very strong, thick rope, made of wires twisted together.
...the heavy anchor cable.
Steel cable will be used to replace worn ropes.
3. uncountable noun [oft NOUN noun]
Cable is used to refer to television systems in which the signals are sent along underground wires rather than by radio waves.
They ran commercials on cable systems across the country.
The channel is only available on cable.
4. countable noun
A cable is the same as a telegram.
She sent a cable to her mother.
5. verb
If you cable someone, you send them a message in the form of a telegram.
'Don't do it again,' Franklin cabled her when he got her letter. [VERB noun with quote]
She had to decide whether or not to cable the news to Louis. [VERB noun preposition/adverb]
...a new formula which is being cabled back to capitals for approval. [VERB noun preposition/adverb]
[Also V n, V n n, V with quote, V]
6. verb [usually passive]
If a country, a city, or someone's home is cabled, cables and other equipment are put in place so that the people there can receive cable television.
In France, 27 major cities are soon to be cabled. [beVERB-ed]
In the U.K., 254,000 homes are cabled. [VERB-ed]
7. See also cabling
cable in British English
(ˈkeɪbəl)
noun
1.
a strong thick rope, usually of twisted hemp or steel wire
2. nautical
an anchor chain or rope
3.
a.
a unit of distance in navigation, equal to one tenth of a sea mile (about 600 feet)
b. 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
a submarine cable
See also coaxial cable
5. Also called: overseas telegram, international telegram, cablegram
a telegram sent abroad by submarine cable, radio, communications satellite, or by telephone line
6. cable stitch
7. short for cable television
verb
8.
to send (a message) to (someone) by cable
9. (transitive)
to fasten or provide with a cable or cables
10. (transitive)
to supply (a place) with or link (a place) to cable television
Word origin
C13: from Old Norman French, from Late Latin capulum halter
Cable in American English
(ˈkeɪbəl)
George Washington1844-1925; U.S. novelist
cable in American English
(ˈkeɪbəl)
noun
1.
a thick, heavy rope, now often of wire strands
2.
the strong, heavy chain attached to a ship's anchor: anchor cables were formerly of rope
3.
cable length
4.
a bundle of insulated wires through which an electric current can be passed: telegraph or telephone cables are often laid under the ground or on the ocean floor
5. US
a cablegram
6.
cable TV
verb transitiveWord forms: ˈcabled or ˈcabling
7.
to fasten or furnish with a cable or cables
8.
to transmit by undersea cable
9.
to send a cablegram to
verb intransitive
10.
to send a cablegram
Word origin
ME & OFr < LL capulum, a cable, rope < L capere, to take hold: see have
cable in Electrical Engineering
(keɪbəl)
Word forms: (regular plural) cables
noun
(Electrical engineering: General)
A cable is a conducting wire or wires separated and surrounded by a dielectric substance or insulation.
In urban areas an underground cable is used to deliver power to buildings.
A transmission line is a cable for carrying an electrical signal from one place to another.
A cable is a conducting wire or wires separated and surrounded by a dielectric substanceor insulation.
armored cable, cable trunking, coaxial cable
COBUILD Collocations
cable
fibre optic cable
Examples of 'cable' in a sentence
cable
The cable car sails over silver birch and pines and patches of snow.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
You can ride a donkey to the top but the cable car is more comfortable and far less scary.
The Sun (2016)
A cable car whisked us up and we walked in awe along the top as the wall snaked off endlessly in each direction.
The Sun (2017)
MORE than 150 skiers spent hours trapped in cable cars in the Alps.
The Sun (2016)
Heavy cables are the conduit through which he will be dispatched to this new frontier.
Kennedy, Douglas In God's Country: travels in the Bible belt, USA. (1989)
You will also need a thick steel cable to loop through both wheels.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Then there is the dense network of wires and cables supplying power.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The scheme would be far cheaper than installing underground cables.
The Sun (2013)
We need new cables simply to connect them all to the grid.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The steady stream of cash available from cable firms can also be used to repay debts.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
He then attached them the statue with steel cables.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
They managed to reach the cable car that carried them to safety before being taken to hospital.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
It is the second time that a chief executive of the cable group has departed unexpectedly in the past three years.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
These cable networks also carry return signals permitting interactive (ie.
Veljanovski, Dr Cento The Media in Britain Today (1990)
But pay 4 billion more collectively to bury cables rather than have pylons?
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Have you watched much American cable news?
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The tablets took two months to install and were connected by 197 miles of cable linked to a central control unit.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Within weeks, costs for turbines, cables and other equipment rose by a similar amount.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The all-in-one designs proved easy to get going, simply plugging in the power cable and radio antennae.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The cable company wants to focus on selling TV, telephony and broadband.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In other languages
cable
British English: cable /ˈkeɪbl/ NOUN
A cable is a thick wire which is used to carry electricity or electronic signals.
...overhead power cables.
American English: cable
Arabic: كابِل
Brazilian Portuguese: cabo fio
Chinese: 电缆
Croatian: kabel
Czech: kabel
Danish: kabel
Dutch: kabel
European Spanish: cable
Finnish: kaapeli
French: câble
German: Kabel
Greek: καλώδιο
Italian: cavo
Japanese: ケーブル
Korean: 케이블
Norwegian: ledning
Polish: kabel
European Portuguese: cabo
Romanian: cablu
Russian: кабель
Latin American Spanish: cable
Swedish: sladd
Thai: สายเคเบิล
Turkish: kablo
Ukrainian: кабель
Vietnamese: cáp
All related terms of 'cable'
cable car
A cable car is a vehicle for taking people up mountains or steep hills . It is pulled by a moving cable.
cable tie
a fastening device, usually plastic , that can form a loop around cables to hold them together
cable TV
a television system in which a high antenna and one or more dish antennas receive signals from distant and local stations , electronic satellite relays , etc. and transmit them by direct cable to the receivers of persons subscribing to the system
brake cable
a cable that connects a brake handle , pedal , or lever to a vehicle's braking mechanism
cable-knit
knitted using the cable stitch
cable-laid
(of a rope ) made of three plain-laid ropes twisted together in a left-handed direction
power cable
→ another name for power line
armored cable
an electric cable having a metal protective covering
cable-laying
involved in or connected to the activity of laying cables
cable length
a unit of length in nautical use that has various values, including 100 fathoms (600 feet )
cable network
A network of lines, roads, veins , or other long thin things is a large number of them which cross each other or meet at many points.
cable railway
a railway on which individual cars are drawn along by a strong cable or metal chain operated by a stationary motor
cable release
a short length of flexible cable , used to operate the shutter of a camera without shaking it
cable stitch
a pattern or series of knitting stitches producing a design like a twisted rope
coaxial cable
a cable consisting of an inner insulated core of stranded or solid wire surrounded by an outer insulated flexible wire braid , used esp as a transmission line for radio-frequency signals
jumper cable
a boring tool that works by repeated impact , such as a steel bit in a hammer drill used in boring rock
cable trunking
Cable trunking is an enclosure usually with a rectangular cross section, and with one removable or hinged side, that is used to protect cables and provide space for other electrical equipment .
extension cable
an extra length of cable with a plug and a connector that can be added to an electric lead
cable's length
a unit of length in nautical use that has various values , including 100 fathoms (600 feet )
cable television
Cable television is a television system in which signals are sent along wires rather than by radio waves .
transmission cable
a coaxial cable , waveguide , or other system of conductors that transfers electrical signals from one location to another
fibre optic cable
A cable is a thick wire, or a group of wires inside a rubber or plastic covering, which is used to carry electricity or electronic signals.
pay-cable channel
a television channel that has to be paid for
cable-stayed bridge
a type of suspension bridge in which the supporting cables are connected directly to the bridge deck without the use of suspenders
cableway
a system for moving people or bulk materials in which suspended cars, buckets , etc, run on cables that extend between terminal towers
tramway
A tramway is a set of rails laid in the surface of a road for trams to travel along.
cablevision
a television service in which programmes are distributed to subscribers' televisions by cable rather than by broadcast transmission
CATV
community antenna television
community antenna television
a television service in which programmes are distributed to subscribers' televisions by cable rather than by broadcast transmission
overseas telegram
a strong thick rope , usually of twisted hemp or steel wire