telescope
Americannoun
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an optical instrument for making distant objects appear larger and therefore nearer. One of the two principal forms refracting telescope, or refractor consists essentially of an objective lens set into one end of a tube and an adjustable eyepiece or combination of lenses set into the other end of a tube that slides into the first and through which the enlarged object is viewed directly; the other form reflecting telescope, or reflector has a concave mirror that gathers light from the object and focuses it into an adjustable eyepiece or combination of lenses through which the reflection of the object is enlarged and viewed.
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Astronomy. Telescope, the constellation Telescopium.
adjective
verb (used with object)
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to force together, one into another, or force into something else, in the manner of the sliding tubes of a jointed telescope.
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to shorten or condense; compress.
to telescope the events of five hundred years into one history lecture.
verb (used without object)
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to slide together, or into something else, in the manner of the tubes of a jointed telescope.
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to be driven one into another, as railroad cars in a collision.
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to be or become shortened or condensed.
noun
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an optical instrument for making distant objects appear larger and brighter by use of a combination of lenses (refracting telescope) or lenses and curved mirrors (reflecting telescope) See also terrestrial telescope astronomical telescope Cassegrain telescope Galilean telescope Newtonian telescope
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any instrument, such as a radio telescope, for collecting, focusing, and detecting electromagnetic radiation from space
verb
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to crush together or be crushed together, as in a collision
the front of the car was telescoped by the impact
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to fit together like a set of cylinders that slide into one another, thus allowing extension and shortening
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to make or become smaller or shorter
the novel was telescoped into a short play
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An arrangement of lenses, mirrors, or both that collects visible light, allowing direct observation or photographic recording of distant objects.
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◆ A refracting telescope uses lenses to focus light to produce a magnified image. Compound lenses are used to avoid distortions such as spherical and chromatic aberrations.
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◆ A reflecting telescope uses mirrors to view celestial objects at high levels of magnification. Most large optical telescopes are reflecting telescopes because very large mirrors, which are necessary to maximize the amount of light received by the telescope, are easier to build than very large lenses.
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Any of various devices, such as a radio telescope, used to detect and observe distant objects by collecting radiation other than visible light.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has telescopedperfect 3rd person singular
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have telescopedperfect
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is telescopingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are telescopingprogressive
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telescopessingular 3rd person
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am telescopingprogressive 1st person singular
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has been telescopingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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telescopingparticiple
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have been telescopingperfect progressive
Past
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had telescopedperfect
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telescopedparticiple
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telescopedsimple
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had been telescopingperfect progressive
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was telescopingprogressive singular
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were telescopingprogressive plural
Future
Etymology
Origin of telescope
First recorded in 1610–20; tele- 1 + -scope; replacing telescopium (from New Latin ) and telescopio (from Italian ); see -ium
Explanation
A telescope is an instrument that is used to view distant objects. If you want to look at the planets, you can use a telescope. The higher the magnification on the telescope, the better your view will be. Galileo is often credited with the invention of the telescope, but this is incorrect. Although he didn't invent it, he did improve it — a lot. He didn't name the telescope either; Greek mathematician Giovanni Demisiani did, in 1611. Telescope is from the Greek roots tele."far," and skopos, "seeing;" so it literally describes what the instrument does. As a verb, telescope means "to become smaller through one part sliding into another," the way a portable collapsing telescope does.
Vocabulary lists containing telescope
Power Suffix: -scope
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Space Science (Astronomy) - Introductory
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The Renaissance and Early Modern European History - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
By contrast, the team's compact telescope was originally designed for studying Earth's magnetosphere and weighs less than ten kilograms.
From Science Daily • Jun. 6, 2026
To address these obstacles, a team led by Airi Toida and Prof. Yuichiro Ezoe of Tokyo Metropolitan University has proposed using a compact X-ray telescope on a satellite orbiting the Moon.
From Science Daily • Jun. 6, 2026
The system was discovered using ASKAP, a radio telescope owned and operated by CSIRO, Australia's national science agency.
From Science Daily • Jun. 2, 2026
Other purchases included designer kitchenware, multiple pairs of shoes, expensive pens and a £1,200 space telescope.
From BBC • May 26, 2026
Duane was fairly certain it was the sunlight hitting C.C.’s metal telescope atop the slanted deck.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
