a brand of apparatus for electrical transmission of photographs.
a photograph transmitted by this apparatus.
1890–95; short for telephotographic; see telephotograph, -ic
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s hard to imagine a riskier trek, but he managed to pull it off, traveling through cities and towns with a telephoto lens.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 14, 2025
Prof Edyvane trained them on surveying methods and hired professionals to teach them how to use telephoto cameras and drones so that they could conduct aerial and boat surveys.
From BBC • Dec. 5, 2024
But they set aside for me this new camera she owned with a telephoto lens.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 29, 2023
There are new telephoto and ultrawide lenses with more megapixels than in last year’s Pro sensors, and the company is planning to tout the enhancements as the premier additions in this year’s phones.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 9, 2023
The camera slung around his neck, with an impressive telephoto lens and numerous buttons and markings, was the only complicated thing he wore.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
