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⇱ cable - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

cable

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UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈkeɪbəl/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈkeɪbəl/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(kā′bəl)

Inflections of 'cable' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
cables
v 3rd person singular
cabling
v pres p
cabled
v past
cabled
v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ca•ble /ˈkeɪbəl/USA pronunciation   n., v., -bled, -bling. 
n. 
  1. Mechanical Engineeringa strong rope made of strands of metal wire, used to support bridges, etc.: [uncountable]The material is reinforced cable.[countable]the cables holding up a suspension bridge.
  2. Mechanical Engineeringa cord of metal wire used to carry electrical power, etc.: [uncountable]miles of electrical cable.[countable]The cables cut across the town lines.
  3. Telecommunications[countable] a cablegram.
  4. Radio and Television, Show Business cable television:[uncountable]That hotel has cable.

v. 
  1. Telecommunicationsto send (a message) by cable: [no object]He cabled from Europe asking for money.[~ + object]He cabled the message.[~ + (that) clause]He cabled that he needed money.
  2. Telecommunications to send a cablegram to:[~ + object]We cabled him last week.
  3. to send (money) by sending an instruction to a bank: [~ + object]She cabled fifty dollars to him.[~ + object + object]She cabled him fifty dollars.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
ca•ble  (kā′bəl),USA pronunciation n., v., -bled, -bling. 
n. 
  1. a heavy, strong rope.
  2. Civil Engineeringa very strong rope made of strands of metal wire, as used to support cable cars or suspension bridges.
  3. Civil Engineeringa cord of metal wire used to operate or pull a mechanism.
  4. Civil Engineering[Naut.]
    • , Naval Terms, Nauticala thick hawser made of rope, strands of metal wire, or chain.
    • , Naval Terms, NauticalSee cable's length. 
  5. Electricityan insulated electrical conductor, often in strands, or a combination of electrical conductors insulated from one another.
  6. Telecommunicationscablegram.
  7. Radio and Television, Show BusinessSee cable television. 
  8. Clothingcable-stitch.
  9. Architectureone of a number of reedings set into the flutes of a column or pilaster.

v.t. 
  1. Telecommunicationsto send (a message) by cable.
  2. Telecommunicationsto send a cablegram to.
  3. to fasten with a cable.
  4. to furnish with a cable.
  5. Radio and Television, Show Businessto join (cities, parts of a country, etc.) by means of a cable television network:The state will be completely cabled in a few years.

v.i. 
  1. Telecommunicationsto send a message by cable.
  2. Clothingto cable-stitch.
  • Late Latin capulum lasso; compare Latin capulāre to rope, halter (cattle), akin to capere to take
  • Old North French *cable
  • Middle English, probably 1175–1225
ca′ble•like′, adj. 

Ca•ble  (kā′bəl),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. Biographical George Washington, 1844–1925, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
cable /ˈkeɪbəl/ n
  1. a strong thick rope, usually of twisted hemp or steel wire
  2. an anchor chain or rope
    • a unit of distance in navigation, equal to one tenth of a sea mile (about 600 feet)
    • 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
 vb
  1. to send (a message) to (someone) by cable
  2. (transitive) to fasten or provide with a cable or cables
  3. (transitive) to supply (a place) with or link (a place) to cable television
Etymology: 13th Century: from Old Norman French, from Late Latin capulum halter
'cable' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Collocations: a [USB, power, charger, data, HDMI] cable, the [PC, computer, DVD, toaster, TV, telephone, internet] cable, [steel, tungsten, silver] cables, more...

🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "cable" in the title:

(power/ electric) cord/ cable/ lead/ flex
A telegram vs a cable back to WWII
basic cable
basic cable
cable access
cable AV
cable car
cable chatter
cable communications
cable marker
Cable sheath is peeled off
cable tie / hose tie / zap-strap / zip tie / tie-wrap
cable vs wire
Cable's stripped away at the end.
Can we say how long with cable, wire, pipe etc if asking for
carrying a line of cable from each of the ships
Collocations of string/wire/cable + intrasitive verb meaning “cut”
Connected <through | by> an electro-mechanical cable
Cox is our cable company.
cut their cable cords
Describe the requirements of a stripped cable
digging outside managed to sever a telephone cable
Do you mind if I plug this cable out?
external power cable code
firing cable
go torque a wicked cable
I couple that up to the end of the cable in such a way that when the drill turns
integrated cable
Jumper cable
LAN/Ethernet/Network cable
more...

Look up "cable" at Merriam-Webster
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