Meaning of CABLE in English


n. & v.


1. a thick rope of wire or hemp.

2 an encased group of insulated wires for transmitting electricity or electrical signals.

3 a cablegram.

4 a Naut. the chain of an anchor. b a measure of 200 yards.

5 (in full cable stitch) a knitted stitch resembling twisted rope.

6 Archit. a rope-shaped ornament.


1. a tr. transmit (a message) by cablegram. b tr. inform (a person) by cablegram. c intr. send a cablegram.

2 tr. furnish or fasten with a cable or cables.

3 Archit. tr. furnish with cables.

Phrases and idioms:


1. a small cabin (often one of a series) suspended on an endless cable and drawn up and down a mountainside etc. by an engine at one end.

2 a carriage drawn along a cable railway. cable-laid (of rope) having three triple strands. cable railway a railway along which carriages are drawn by an endless cable. cable television a broadcasting system with signals transmitted by cable to subscribers' sets.

Etymology: ME f. OF chable, ult. f. LL capulum halter f. Arab. habl

Oxford English vocab.      Оксфордский английский словарь.