A cable is a conductor or group of conductors used to transmit electric power or telecommunication signals from one place to another. It can be an assembly of one or more wires running side by side or bundled, which is used as an electrical conductor to carry electric current. Cables may be made more flexible by stranding the wires, where smaller individual wires are twisted or braided together to produce larger wires that are more flexible than solid wires of similar size.
Cables can be made of different materials, such as metal wires, optical fibers, or plastic fibers. They can be used to transmit voice messages, computer data, and visual images via electrical signals to telephones, wired radios, computers, teleprinters, facsimile machines, and televisions.
In addition to their use in transmitting electrical signals, the term "cable" can also refer to a strong rope, especially of 10 inches or more in circumference, a wire rope or metal chain of great tensile strength, or a fiber-optic cable.
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted through coaxial cables or light pulses through fiber-optic cables.
