Telegram | Definition of Telegram at Dictionary.com

[ tel-i-gram ]

/ ˈtɛl ɪˌgræm /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR telegram ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a message or communication sent by telegraph; a telegraphic dispatch.

verb (used with or without object), tel·e·grammed, tel·e·gram·ming.

to telegraph.

Nearby words

telega, telegenic, telegnosis, telegonus, telegony, telegram, telegraph, telegraph buoy, telegraph plant, telegraphese, telegraphic

Origin of telegram

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55; tele-¹ + -gram¹

Related forms

tel·e·gram·mic, tel·e·gram·ma·tic

[tel-i-gruh-mat-ik] /ˌtɛl ɪ grəˈmæt ɪk/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for telegram

Inquiries will be accepted only via Western Union telegram or rotary phone.
The World’s Toughest Political Quiz|Jeff Greenfield|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I sent a telegram to the Rabbi in Damascus asking if he needed religious books and prepaid [for his response].
The Woman Who Saved Syria’s Jews|Emma Beals|March 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Almost “magically,” he soon received a telegram from Hollywood urging him to reconsider.
‘The Counselor’ & How Cormac McCarthy Beat the Hollywood Curse|Andrew Romano|October 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
His voice is high-pitched, yet wields the power to cut right through a room of telegram operators.
Is Steven Spielberg’s Historical Epic, ‘Lincoln,’ Really That Great? |Marlow Stern|November 9, 2012|DAILY BEAST

One morning, there arrived a letter for me from Alan—a remarkable thing of itself, neither a postcard nor a telegram.
Alan Turing’s Brother: He Should Be Alive Today|John Ferrier Turing|June 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Twice he made the blundering maid repeat the telegram, and finally exhausted with the mental effort, dropped into unconsciousness.
The Motor Maids at Sunrise Camp|Katherine Stokes
They carried him back to the dressing-station one day and sent home a telegram saying that he was wounded in the face.
God's Green Country|Ethel M. Chapman
When he received the telegram in reply he knew it granted what he had asked.
Lippincott's Magazine. Vol. XII, No. 33. December, 1873.|Various
"We've just had a wire from Mr. O'Hanlon," he cried excitedly, handing me a telegram.
The Social Gangster|Arthur B. Reeve
He held out beneath her eyes the telegram he had received that morning.
The Vultures|Henry Seton Merriman

British Dictionary definitions for telegram

/ (ˈtɛlɪˌɡræm) /

noun

a communication transmitted by telegraphSee also cable (def. 5), Telemessage

Derived Forms

telegrammatic (ˌtɛlɪɡrəˈmætɪk) or telegrammic, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012