telegraph
an apparatus, system, or process for transmitting messages or signals to a distant place, especially by means of an electric device consisting essentially of a sending instrument and a distant receiving instrument connected by a conducting wire or other communications channel.
Nautical. an apparatus, usually mechanical, for transmitting and receiving orders between the bridge of a ship and the engine room or some other part of the engineering department.
a message sent by telegraph; a telegram.
to transmit or send (a message) by telegraph.
to send a message to (a person) by telegraph.
Informal. to divulge or indicate unwittingly (one's intention, next offensive move, etc.), as to an opponent or to an audience; broadcast: The fighter telegraphed his punch and his opponent was able to parry it. If you act nervous too early in the scene, you'll telegraph the character's guilt.
to send a message by telegraph.
Origin of telegraph
1Other words from telegraph
- te·leg·ra·pher [tuh-leg-ruh-fer] /təˈlɛg rə fər/ especially British, te·leg·ra·phist, noun
- pre·tel·e·graph, adjective
- re·tel·e·graph, verb
- un·tel·e·graphed, adjective
Words Nearby telegraph
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use telegraph in a sentence
The telegraph had been invented about 40 years earlier, giving meteorologists the ability to communicate quickly between disparate locations—a prerequisite for predicting how storms will evolve.
Kites, balloons, and blueberries | Saima May Sidik, SM ’21 | August 24, 2022 | MIT Technology ReviewBringing inventions “to scale” in large markets was precisely the aim of big companies such as General Electric or American Telephone & telegraph, which was then the national telephone monopoly.
What made the last century’s great innovations possible? | Jon Gertner | March 18, 2022 | Science NewsMessages from across the Atlantic used to come by boat, she says, then came copper cables to relay telegraph dispatches in the 1840s.
Materials of the last century shaped modern life, but at a price | Carolyn Wilke | January 28, 2022 | Science NewsIn exchange for allowing it to provide universal telephone service, the US government required AT&T to stay out of other communication businesses, first by selling its telegraph subsidiary and later by steering clear of computing.
In May 1861, federal agents descended on Northern telegraph offices and seized transcribed messages in bulk.
Modern capitalism is inseparable from surveillance | Josh Lauer, Kenneth Lipartito | September 22, 2021 | Washington Post
The Daily telegraph's Lisa Armstrong called the show a "stupendously vacuous enterprise."
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s Balmain Campaign: High Fashion Meets Low Culture | Amy Zimmerman | December 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTObama said, through laughter, according to an eyewitness report of the meeting in The telegraph.
When Your Royalty Met Ours: Kate Meets Bey Courtside | Tom Sykes | December 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMr Obama said, through laughter, according to an eyewitness report of the meeting in The telegraph.
The telegraph reports that he is fluent in Swahili and a keen zoologist.
How A British Aristocrat Used Big Game Hunter’s Sperm To Get Pregnant Without His Permission | Tom Sykes | December 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST“Unlike Turkey or Egypt, we have no art-historical tradition,” he told The telegraph in 2002.
The Mysterious Death of the Art World’s Favorite Sheikh | Lizzie Crocker | November 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn the telegraph office a young signaler was sending a thrilling message to Umballa, Lahore and the north.
The Red Year | Louis TracyAs there were no telegraph lines, another way had to be provided by which messages might be quickly sent.
Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. PikeFlocks of birds seemed to sing through the air, striking against the telegraph wires.
A Lost Hero | Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward and Herbert D. WardSuppose he should receive an acceptance by letter or telegraph but deny it, and insist that no contract had been made.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman | Albert Sidney BollesHe proceeded to the tall telegraph pole and swarmed quickly up it.
The Campfire Girls of Roselawn | Margaret Penrose
British Dictionary definitions for telegraph
/ (ˈtɛlɪˌɡræf, -ˌɡrɑːf) /
a device, system, or process by which information can be transmitted over a distance, esp using radio signals or coded electrical signals sent along a transmission line connected to a transmitting and a receiving instrument
(as modifier): telegraph pole
a message transmitted by such a device, system, or process; telegram
to send a telegram to (a person or place); wire
(tr) to transmit or send by telegraph
(tr) boxing informal to prepare to deliver (a punch) so obviously that one's opponent has ample time to avoid it
(tr) to give advance notice of (anything), esp unintentionally
(tr) Canadian informal to cast (votes) illegally by impersonating registered voters
Derived forms of telegraph
- telegraphist (tɪˈlɛɡrəfɪst) or telegrapher, noun
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
Scientific definitions for telegraph
[ tĕl′ĭ-grăf′ ]
A communications system in which a message in the form of short, rapid electric impulses is sent, either by wire or radio, to a receiving station. Morse code is often used to encode messages in a form that is easily transmitted through electric impulses.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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