Bowden cable

noun

A flexible cable used to transmit mechanical force by the movement of an inner cable (most commonly of steel) relative to a hollow outer housing.

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Meanings

nounBowden cable (plural Bowden cables)

plural Bowden cables

  1. A flexible cable used to transmit mechanical force by the movement of an inner cable (most commonly of steel) relative to a hollow outer housing.

    Unfortunately, designers apparently forgot that the laws of sliding friction apply inside a Bowden cable just as they do at braking surfaces. The force transmitted by the inner cable is continuously reduced, particularly around bends, according to the formula […].

    2004, David Gordon Wilson, Bicycling Science, third edition, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 253

Origin

Uncertain; its invention is popularly attributed to Sir Frank Bowden, but also associated with Ernest Monnington Bowden.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Esperanto boudenkablo
  • boudenkablocable used to transmit force by the movement of an inner cable
French câble Bowden
  • câble Bowdencable used to transmit force by the movement of an inner cable
German Bowdenzug
  • Bowdenzugcable used to transmit force by the movement of an inner cable
Italian cavo Bowden, guaina
  • cavo Bowdencable used to transmit force by the movement of an inner cable
  • guainacable used to transmit force by the movement of an inner cable
Cite this entry
APA

Bowden cable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bowden%20cable

MLA

“Bowden cable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bowden%20cable. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Bowden cable,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bowden%20cable.

Source: Bowden cable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.