cable car

/ˈkeɪ.bəl ˌkɑːɹ/

//ˈkeɪ.bəl ˌkɑːɹ// noun

"cable-car" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cable car” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A streetcar moved by gripping to rotating loop of cable running along the track.

Key facts for cable car
PropertyValue
Headwordcable car
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkeɪ.bəl ˌkɑːɹ/
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cable car” sits in English frequency

cable car falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cable car is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkeɪ.bəl ˌkɑːɹ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for cable car, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is cable car, spelled C-A-B-L-E- -C-A-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A streetcar moved by gripping to rotating loop of cable running along the track.
  2. 2
    Any passenger vehicle attached to a moving cable for propulsion, and guided by some form of rails, on a specially-built track not in a street.
  3. 3
    A hanging carriage or car for transporting people or cargo.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cable car"?
"cable car" is spelled C-A-B-L-E- -C-A-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkeɪ.bəl ˌkɑːɹ/.
What does "cable car" mean?
As a noun, "cable car" means: A streetcar moved by gripping to rotating loop of cable running along the track.
How do you pronounce "cable car"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cable car" is /ˈkeɪ.bəl ˌkɑːɹ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cable car" come from?
"cable car" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “cable car”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-A-B-L-E- -C-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈkeɪ.bəl ˌkɑːɹ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list