• Cable

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /keɪbl/
    • Rhymes: -eɪbÉ™l

    Origin

    Recorded since c.1205, from Old Northern French, from Medieval Latin capulum ("lasso, rope, halter"), from Latin capiō ("to take, seize").

    Full definition of cable

    Noun

    cable

    (plural cables)
    1. (material) A long object used to make a physical connection.
      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 heavy rope or chain of at least 10 inches thick, as used to moor or anchor a ship.
    2. (communications) 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.
      • 2014-03-15, Turn it off, 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 negotiations with programmers, whose channels it pays to carry.
      1. Short for cable television, broadcast over the above network, not by antenna.
    3. A telegram, notably when sent by (submarine) telegraph cable.
    4. (nautical) A unit of length equal to one tenth of a nautical mile.
    5. (finance) The currency pair British Pound against United States Dollar.
    6. (architecture) A moulding, shaft of a column, or any other member of convex, rounded section, made to resemble the spiral twist of a rope.

    Synonyms

    Antonyms

    • (nautical rope) hawser (thinner)

    Related terms

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To provide with cable(s)
    2. (transitive) To fasten (as if) with cable(s)
    3. (transitive) To wrap wires to form a cable
    4. (transitive) To send a telegram by cable
    5. (intransitive) To communicate by cable
    6. (architecture, transitive) To ornament with cabling.

    Derived terms

    Anagrams

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