I. ˈkābəl noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old North French, from Medieval Latin capulum lasso, from Latin capere to take — more at heave
1.
a. : a strong rope ; especially : a rope 10 or more inches in circumference
b. : a cable-laid rope
c. : a wire rope or metal chain of great strength used especially for hauling, for securing a ship to an anchor, or for supporting the rods and roadway of a suspension bridge
d. : a wire or wire rope by means of which force is exerted to control or operate a mechanism
ailerons operated by control cables
2. : cable length
3.
a. : a ropelike usually stranded assembly of electrical conductors or of groups of two or more conductors insulated from each other but laid up together usually by being twisted around a central core, the whole usually heavily insulated by outside wrappings ; specifically : a submarine cable — see telegraph cable
b.
[by shortening]
: cablegram
c. : cable transfer
4.
a. : something resembling or fashioned like a cable
creepers of many kinds and of every size, from huge cables to thin cords, loop from tree to tree — C.D.Forde
a cable motif
b. : a convex molding that occupies a flute of a column or pilaster usually in the lower part of the shaft
c. also cable stitch : a knitting stitch that produces a pattern resembling the twist of a 2-ply cable
a cable on a sweater
II. verb
( cabled ; cabled ; cabling ˈkāb(ə)liŋ ; cables )
transitive verb
1. : to fasten with or as if with a cable
2. : to ornament with something resembling a cable
3. : to telegraph by a submarine cable
4. architecture : to fill (flutes) with cables
5. : to make into a cable or into a form resembling a cable ; specifically : to twist together (two or more strands, plied yarns, or threads)
intransitive verb
1. : to communicate by a submarine cable
cable for immediate delivery of goods
2. : to make a cable stitch
III. noun
: cable television herein