cable

UK: /ˈkeɪb^əl/ US: /ˈkeɪbəl/ ,(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 © 2025

ca•ble /ˈkeɪbəl/   n., v., -bled, -bling. 
n. 

1. Mechanical Engineering a 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 Engineering a 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. 

5. Telecommunications to 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.
6. Telecommunications to send a cablegram to:
   [~ + object] We cabled him last week.
7. 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 © 2025

ca•ble  (kā′bəl), n., v., -bled, -bling. 
n. 

1. a heavy, strong rope.
2. Civil Engineering a very strong rope made of strands of metal wire, as used to support cable cars or suspension bridges.
3. Civil Engineering a cord of metal wire used to operate or pull a mechanism.
4. Civil Engineering [Naut.]
   • , Naval Terms, Nautical a thick hawser made of rope, strands of metal wire, or chain.
   • , Naval Terms, Nautical See cable's length. 
5. Electricity an insulated electrical conductor, often in strands, or a combination of electrical conductors insulated from one another.
6. Telecommunications cablegram.
7. Radio and Television, Show Business See cable television. 
8. Clothing cable-stitch.
9. Architecture one of a number of reedings set into the flutes of a column or pilaster.

v.t. 

10. Telecommunications to send (a message) by cable.
11. Telecommunications to send a cablegram to.
12. to fasten with a cable.
13. to furnish with a cable.
14. Radio and Television, Show Business to 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. 

15. Telecommunications to send a message by cable.
16. Clothing to 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), n. 

1. Biographical George Washington, 1844–1925, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

cable / ˈkeɪb^əl/ noun

1. a strong thick rope, usually of twisted hemp or steel wire
2. an anchor chain or rope
3. a unit of distance in navigation, equal to one tenth of a sea mile (about 600 feet)
4. Also called: cable length, cable's length a unit of length in nautical use that has various values, including 100 fathoms (600 feet)
5. a wire or bundle of wires that conducts electricity: a submarine cable
   See also coaxial cable
7. short for cable television

verb

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