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telemetry

American  
[tuh-le-muh-tree] / təˈlɛ mə tri /

noun

telemetries plural
  1. the automatic transmission of radio signals or other data at a distance.

  2. the technology or equipment used for the automatic transmission of radio signals or other data at a distance.

  3. radio signals or other data transmitted automatically at a distance.


telemetry British  
/ tɪˈlɛmɪtrɪ /

noun

  1. the use of radio waves, telephone lines, etc, to transmit the readings of measuring instruments to a device on which the readings can be indicated or recorded See also radiotelemetry

  2. the measurement of linear distance using a tellurometer

"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

telemetry Scientific  
/ tə-lĕmĭ-trē /
  1. The measurement of data at a remote source and transmission of the data (typically by radio) to a monitoring station. Telemetry is used, for example, to track the movements of wild animals that have been tagged with radio transmitters, and to transmit meteorological data from weather balloons to weather stations.


telemetry Cultural  
  1. Automatic measurement and transmission of data or information by such means as wire or (more commonly today) microwave relays from the source to a distant receiver.


Discover More

Satellites transmit their data by telemetry.

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Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Explanation

Devices that transmit data from a distance using radio waves, such as unmanned spacecraft and weather balloons, use telemetry. Telemetry is a method of quick communication, usually via radio transmissions but sometimes in other ways, like telephones or computer networks. It's a quick way for data to be received and measured by astronomers, meteorologists, doctors, and law enforcement officials, among others. The word telemetry comes from the French télémètre, which is made up of télé, "far," and mètre, "meter" or "device for measuring."

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Vocabulary lists containing telemetry

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.

See Examples For:

Rather than relying on SpaceX's published specifications, the team reconstructed the rocket's performance by extracting telemetry from publicly available video of its first four integrated flight tests.

From Science Daily Jul. 11, 2026

They plan to advance high-speed interconnect technologies, system telemetry and cooling designs.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 4, 2026

Decades of geological records, subsurface physics, and mechanical telemetry are proving invaluable for asset management and monitoring, along with enabling advanced autonomous drilling capabilities.

From Barron's May 28, 2026

The accompanying Cosmos software allows customers to run diagnostics and telemetry to check on their systems, Mohan added.

From MarketWatch May 5, 2026

I pick the book back up but I don't say anything more about how hopeless it is, me trying to write stuff down, because I don't want to set off the telemetry.

From "Freak The Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick

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