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.
Its single rear camera lacks the telephoto lens of the Pro models and the ultrawide lens in the entry-level iPhone 17, which costs $200 less.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 8, 2025
He experimented restlessly with technology, trying out telephoto pictures of Kanchenjunga.
From BBC • Feb. 8, 2025
Those new iPhones coming out with an improved telephoto lens will get plenty of use by fans showing up to Mission League basketball games this winter, considering how many celebrities might be making appearances.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2023
The latest phones offer multiple lenses with better resolution and enhanced macro and telephoto capabilities, enabling virtually every moment to be captured for posterity.
From New York Times • Aug. 16, 2023
Since you couldn’t use a telephoto lens underwater, he’d probably zoomed in and cropped the shot tighter.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
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.
