Dictionary Definition
cable
Noun
1 a telegram sent abroad [syn: cablegram, overseas
telegram]
2 a conductor for transmitting electrical or
optical signals or electric power [syn: line, transmission
line]
3 a very strong thick rope made of twisted hemp
or steel wire
4 a nautical unit of depth [syn: cable
length, cable's
length]
5 television that is transmitted over cable
directly to the receiver [syn: cable
television]
6 a television system transmitted over cables
[syn: cable
television, cable
system, cable
television service]
Verb
2 fasten with a cable; "cable trees"
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- IPA: /keɪbl/
-
- Rhymes: -eɪbəl
Noun
- A strong, large-diameter wire or rope, or something resembling such a rope.
- An assembly of two or more wires which are used for electrical power or data circuits; one or more may be insulated.
- A heavy rope or chain used to moor or anchor a ship
- (communications) A system for receiving television or Internet service
over coaxial or fibreoptic cables
- I tried to watch the movie last night but my cable was out.
- A telegram
- in financial markets 'cable' is used to refer to the currency pair Great British Pounds against United States Dollars
- A unit of length
Translations
- Dutch: kabel
- Esperanto: kablo
- French: câble
- German: Kabel
- Hebrew: כבל (kevel) , Plural: כבלים (kvalym)
- Hungarian: kábel
- Indonesian: kabel, kawat
- Interlingua: cable
- Italian: cavo
- Japanese: ケーブル (kēburu), 電線 (でんせん, densen)
- Latvian: kabelis
- Polish: lina (1), kabel (2), przewód (2)
- Russian: трос (tros) (1,3), канат (kanát) (1,3), кабель (káb'el') (2,4), телеграмма (t'el'egrámma) (4), кабельтов (káb'el'tov) (6)
- Spanish: cable
- Swedish: kabel (1, 2), elkabel (2)
- Turkish: kablo
- Gaelic: cábla
Verb
- To send a telegram
- To wrap wires to form a cable
Spanish
Extensive Definition
A cable is one or more wires or optical
fibers bound together, typically in a common protective jacket
or sheath. The individual wires or fibers inside the jacket may be
covered or insulated.
Combination cables may contain both electrical wires and optical
fibers. Electrical wire is usually copper because of its excellent
conductivity,
but aluminum is
sometimes used because it costs less.
Construction
Electrical cables may be made flexible by stranding the wires. In this process, smaller individual wires are twisted or braided together to produce larger wires that are more flexible than solid wires of similar size. Bunching small wires before concentric stranding adds the most flexibility. A thin coat of a specific material (usually tin-which improves the solderability of the bunch-, but it could be silver, gold and another materials and of course the wire can be unplated - with no coating material) on the individual wires provides lubrication for longest life. Tight lays during stranding makes the cable extensible (CBA - as in telephone handset cords).Bundling the conductors and eliminating
multi-layers ensures a uniform bend radius across each conductor.
Pulling and compressing forces balance one another around the
high-tensile center cord that provides the necessary inner
stability. As a result the cable core remains stable even under
maximum bending stress.
Cables can be securely fastened and organized,
such as using cable trees with the aid of cable ties or
cable
lacing. Continuous-flex or flexible
cables used in moving applications within cable
carriers can be secured using strain relief devices or cable
ties.
History
In the 19th century and early 20th century, cable was often insulated using cloth, rubber and even paper. Plastic materials are generally used today, except for high reliability power cables. There are four types of plastic insulation used in telecommunications cables today: solid, cellular, foam skin and skin-foam-skin.The leading global producers of wire and cable
include (in no particular order): Canare, Draka, General Cable,
Belden, Nexans, India,
igus,
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Furukawa Electric, Hitachi
Cable, Southwire, Marmon Group,
LS
Cable, Leoni, Fujikura,
Tyco,
Prysmian,
Lapp, Wonderful Hi-Tech, Walsin Lihwa and Wilms Group, and Jainson
Cables - India.
Fire protection
Cables as a fire hazard
In construction, sometimes the cable jacketing is seen as a potential source of fuel for a fire. To limit the spread of fire along cable jacketing, one may use cable coating materials or one may use cables with jacketing that is inherently fire retardant. Teck cable or metal clad cables, may have exterior organic jacketing, which is often stripped off by electricians in order to reduce the fuel source for accidental fires. In Europe in particular, it is often customary to place inorganic wraps and boxes around cables in order to safeguard the adjacent areas from the potential fire threat associated with unprotected cable jacketing.Interference protection
In applications powering sensitive electronics, keeping unwanted EMI/RFI from entering circuits is important. This can be accomplished passively with shielding along the length of the cable or by running the cable in an enclosure separate from any other wires which may induct noise. It can also be actively achieved by use of a choke designed to restrict the cables' ability to conduct certain frequencies.Types of cable
Cables can be sorted into several categories and types. Generally it can by sorted into two main groups, structural and informatic.Application
advantage
they are good conductors,cheap and available
every where
disadvantage
copper corrode easily and should be layered with
Lacquer to help conserve the concluding
Cable type
Basic cable types are as follows:Basic
- Coaxial cable
- Multicore cable (consist of more than one wire and is covered by cable jacket)
- Optical fiber cable
- Ribbon cable
- Single cable (from time to time this name is used for wire)
Construction
Based on construction and cable properties it can be sorted into the following:Special
Market Information
See also
- Communications cable
- Mineral-insulated copper-clad cable
- Cable harness
- Cable lacing
- Cable length
- Cable tray
- Circuit integrity
- Cable management
- Cable modem
- Cable salad
- Cable television
- DOCSIS
- Extension cable
- MF
- Portable cord
- ROHS
- Submarine communications cable
- Submarine power cable
- Tensile structure
- Wire rope (steel cable)
- International Cablemakers Federation
External links
cable in Bulgarian: Кабел
cable in Catalan: Cable
cable in Czech: Kabel
cable in Corsican: Cavu
cable in Danish: Elektrisk kabel
cable in German: Kabel
cable in Spanish: Cable
cable in Esperanto: Kablo
cable in Galician: Cable
cable in Italian: Cavo
cable in Japanese: 電線
cable in Korean: 케이블
cable in Dutch: Elektriciteitsleiding
cable in Norwegian: Kabel
cable in Norwegian Nynorsk: Kabel
cable in Quechua: Yawirka
cable in Russian: Кабель
cable in Simple English: Cable
cable in Slovak: Kábel
cable in Serbian: Кабл
cable in Swedish: Kabel
cable in Turkish: Kablo
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
BX cable, Teletype, WATS, WATS line, armored cable,
battery cable, bell wire, braid, brail, cablegram, chain, co-ax, coaxial cable,
concentric cable, cord, day
letter, electric cable, electric cord, fast telegram, flash, guy, hawser, highline, hookup wire, lead, ligament, ligation, ligature, line, mooring, night letter, party
line, power line, private line, radio, radiogram, rope, send a wire, sign off, sign
on, spun yarn, strand,
string, telegram, telegraph, telegraph cable,
telegraph line, telephone line, telex, tendon, thong, three-wire cable,
transmission line, triaxial cable, trunk, trunk line, twine, twist, underground cable, wire, wire line, yarn