cable's length

American  

Or cable length

noun

1. a nautical unit of length equivalent to 720 feet (219 meters) in the U.S. Navy and 608 feet (185 meters) in the British Navy.

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Etymology

Origin of cable's length

First recorded in 1545–55

Example Sentences

Here, lying about a cable's length off, was a submarine of the "E" type.

From The Fight for Constantinople A Story of the Gallipoli Peninsula by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

A cable's length away was one of the boats with only half a dozen people in her.

From The Wireless Officer by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

For eight days they followed the coast towards Cape Breton, at the end of which time the wind rose, bringing thick fog and rain, so that they could not see a cable’s length before them.

From The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 1 by Whymper, Frederick

After another broadside the pirate backed her main topsail and hove to at less than a cable's length off.

From A Lad of Grit A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea in Restoration Times by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

Hardly a cable's length away was anchored a stout corvette of twenty-eight guns, whose officers and men, up to that moment, had been observing the new arrival quite listlessly.

From The Noank's Log A Privateer of the Revolution by Stoddard, W. O.