braided

I was doing a little research about this. In some articles (that I could only find regarding cables in general) I couldn't tell what they were meaning by "braided", were they talking about the insides of the cable or an exterior sheath? I'm interested to find out about exterior braiding...

A man from Connecticut has been left with a rather bizarre mugshot after being arrested for stabbing a man who was braiding his afro. David Davis from Newhaven, in Connecticut, was having his hair done when he allegedly grabbed some scissors, slashed his barber's back and fled the scene...