cable

To provide (something) with cable(s).

Noun

  1. A long object used to make a physical connection.

    Synonyms: wire rope cord string

    1. A strong, large-diameter wire or rope, or something resembling such a rope.

    2. An assembly of two or more cable-laid ropes.

    3. An assembly of two or more wires, used for electrical power or data circuits; one or more and/or the whole may be insulated.

    4. (nautical) A strong rope or chain used to moor or anchor a ship.

      • “And now the time of tide has come; the ship casts off her cables; and from the deserted wharf the uncheered ship for Tarshish, all careening, glides to sea. - 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 9, in Moby-Dick;...

      Coordinate Terms: hawser

  2. A system for transmitting television or Internet services over a network of coaxial or fibreoptic cables.
    • I tried to watch the movie last night but my cable was out.
    • If the takeover is approved, Comcast would control 20 of the top 25 cable markets, […]. Antitrust officials will need to consider Comcast’s status as a monopsony (a buyer with disproportionate power), when it comes to...

    1. (television) Ellipsis of cable television, broadcast over the above network, not by antenna.

  3. A telegram, notably when sent by (submarine) telegraph cable.

    Synonyms: cablegram

  4. A unit of length equal to one tenth of a nautical mile.

    Synonyms: cable length

  5. 100 fathoms, 600 imperial feet, approximately 185 m.
  6. The currency pair British Pound against United States Dollar.
  7. A moulding, shaft of a column, or any other member of convex, rounded section, made to resemble the spiral twist of a rope.
  8. A textural pattern achieved by passing groups of stitches over one another.

Origin

Recorded since c.1205 as Middle English cable, from Old Northern French cable, from Late Latin capulum (“lasso, rope, halter”), from Latin capiō (“to take, seize”). Use of the term "cable" to refer to the USD/GBP exchange rate originated in the mid-19th century, when the exchange rate began to be transmitted across the Atlantic by a submarine communications cable.

Forms

cables

Related

cablet

Derived

anticable array cable basic cable belted cable booster cable Bowden cable cable-actuated cable box cable buoy cablecar cable-car cable car cablecast cable core cable drum cable ferry cablegami Cablegate cable gland cablegram cable guy cable harness cable internet cable jack

Verb

  1. To provide (something) with cable(s).
  2. To fasten (something) (as if) with cable(s).
  3. To wrap (wires) to form a cable.
  4. To send (a telegram, news, etc.) by cable.
    • Details of a bottle fight in El Morocco were cabled all over the world. - 1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 89:
    • On 8th November Anthony cabled them, ‘Your great-grandson Randal Lewis Casson arrived to-day. Both well,’ and we sent, ‘Congratulations on becoming great-grandparents.’ - 1972, John Casson, “‘When We Are Old, Are Old’”,...
  5. To communicate by cable.
  6. To ornament (something) with cabling.
  7. To create cable stitches.
    • You've been cabling, twisting, popcorning and bobbling. See, we told you that they weren't so hard. - 2008, Leisure Arts, I Can't Believe I'm Knitting Cables, page 9:

Forms

cables cabling cabled