bush telegraph

American  

noun

1. any system of communication in which the natives of a jungle or bush region transmit news rapidly, as by runners, drum codes, or smoke signals.

2. Australian.

   1. any chain of communications by which criminals, originally bushrangers, are warned of police movements.

   2. Slang. rumor; the grapevine.

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bush telegraph British  

noun

1. a means of communication between primitive peoples over large areas, as by drum beats

2. a means of spreading rumour, gossip, etc

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Etymology

Origin of bush telegraph

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

I was humbled, too, by the inner world of plants and their eerie capacity to communicate through “the bush telegraph of root systems.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2016

La bola, Cuba’s bush telegraph, transmits news around the island long before it is covered by state media.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 20, 2015

It will be his saves, though, particularly in the opening half, that should reach Fabio Capello, the England manager, on the bush telegraph.

From The Guardian • May 1, 2010

The episode shows how easily the fickle bush telegraph can chew up police time.

From Time Magazine Archive

A bush telegraph, you see, is mostly worked about the neighbourhood he was born in.

From Robbery under Arms; a story of life and adventure in the bush and in the Australian goldfields by Boldrewood, Rolf