telescope

[ tel-uh-skohp ]

/ ˈtɛl əˌskoʊp /

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See synonyms for: telescope / telescoped on Thesaurus.com

noun

an optical instrument for making distant objects appear larger and therefore nearer. One of the two principal forms (refracting telescope, or refractor ) consists essentially of an objective lens set into one end of a tube and an adjustable eyepiece or combination of lenses set into the other end of a tube that slides into the first and through which the enlarged object is viewed directly; the other form (reflecting telescope, or reflector ) has a concave mirror that gathers light from the object and focuses it into an adjustable eyepiece or combination of lenses through which the reflection of the object is enlarged and viewed.Compare radio telescope.

Telescope, Astronomy. the constellation Telescopium.

adjective

consisting of parts that fit and slide one within another.

verb (used with object), tel·e·scoped, tel·e·scop·ing.

to force together, one into another, or force into something else, in the manner of the sliding tubes of a jointed telescope.

to shorten or condense; compress: to telescope the events of five hundred years into one history lecture.

verb (used without object), tel·e·scoped, tel·e·scop·ing.

to slide together, or into something else, in the manner of the tubes of a jointed telescope.

to be driven one into another, as railroad cars in a collision.

to be or become shortened or condensed.

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Origin of telescope

First recorded in 1610–20; tele-¹ + -scope; replacing telescopium (from New Latin ) and telescopio (from Italian ); see -ium

OTHER WORDS FROM telescope

non·tel·e·scop·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use telescope in a sentence

His parents drove him an hour and a half to visit the telescope.
Arecibo Observatory, an ‘icon of Puerto Rican science,’ will be demolished|Lisa Grossman|November 19, 2020|Science News
The whole point of Kepler was to help scientists figure out what kinds of interstellar objects they ought to devote more resources to studying to find extraterrestrial life, especially with space-based telescopes whose observation time is limited.
Half the Milky Way’s sun-like stars could be home to Earth-like planets|Neel Patel|November 6, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Researchers compared the radio waves of FRB 200428 with x-ray observations made by six space telescopes, as well as other ground-based observatories.
We just found a source for one of the most mysterious phenomena in astronomy|Neel Patel|November 4, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Using an array of telescopes in Chile, she hopes to find more of these fast-spinning objects and learn what they can reveal about how galaxies are formed.
How one Turkish astronomer discovered a completely new kind of galaxy|Science Friday|October 29, 2020|Popular-Science

Working with scientists at the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico, he beamed the genetic sequence for the most abundant protein on Earth, critical to photosynthesis, to nearby stars.
Preserving a Sense of Wonder in DNA - Issue 92: Frontiers|Virat Markandeya|October 28, 2020|Nautilus
It was an all-hands operation, telescoping what would normally be a nine-month process into five short weeks.
Is Tim Armstrong the Lazarus of Aol.?|Lloyd Grove|December 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Nothing of this sort has yet been worked out on a practical scale, but many have been the suggestions for “telescoping wings.”
The Romance of Aircraft|Lawrence Yard Smith
Those thoroughfares, telescoping each other, one after another, seemed as if they would never come to an end.
The Woman Thou Gavest Me|Hall Caine
He had not had any legs for a good many minutes; the telescoping process is numbing in the extreme.
The Very Small Person|Annie Hamilton Donnell
The staff is made of hickory in three joints, each 23 inches long, and is assembled by telescoping into brass ferrules.
Visual Signaling|Signal Corps United States Army
There was our engine smashed to pieces off the line, the tender high in the air, telescoping the luggage van.
Forty Thousand Miles Over Land and Water|Lady (Ethel Gwendoline [Moffatt]) Vincent

British Dictionary definitions for telescope

telescope

/ (ˈtɛlɪˌskəʊp) /

noun

an optical instrument for making distant objects appear larger and brighter by use of a combination of lenses (refracting telescope) or lenses and curved mirrors (reflecting telescope)See also terrestrial telescope, astronomical telescope, Cassegrain telescope, Galilean telescope, Newtonian telescope

any instrument, such as a radio telescope, for collecting, focusing, and detecting electromagnetic radiation from space

verb

to crush together or be crushed together, as in a collisionthe front of the car was telescoped by the impact

to fit together like a set of cylinders that slide into one another, thus allowing extension and shortening

to make or become smaller or shorterthe novel was telescoped into a short play

Word Origin for telescope

C17: from Italian telescopio or New Latin telescopium, literally: far-seeing instrument; see tele-, -scope

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 telescope

telescope

[ tĕl′ĭ-skōp′ ]

An arrangement of lenses, mirrors, or both that collects visible light, allowing direct observation or photographic recording of distant objects.♦ A refracting telescope uses lenses to focus light to produce a magnified image. Compound lenses are used to avoid distortions such as spherical and chromatic aberrations.♦ A reflecting telescope uses mirrors to view celestial objects at high levels of magnification. Most large optical telescopes are reflecting telescopes because very large mirrors, which are necessary to maximize the amount of light received by the telescope, are easier to build than very large lenses.

Any of various devices, such as a radio telescope, used to detect and observe distant objects by collecting radiation other than visible light.

Cultural definitions for telescope

telescope

A device used by astronomers to magnify images or collect more light from distant objects by gathering and concentrating radiation. The most familiar kind of telescope is the optical telescope, which collects radiation in the form of visible light. It may work by reflection, with a bowl-shaped mirror at its base, or by refraction, with a system of lenses. Other kinds of telescopes collect other kinds of radiation; there are radio telescopes (which collect radio waves), x-ray telescopes, and infrared telescopes. Radio and optical telescopes may be situated on the Earth, since the Earth's atmosphere allows light and radio waves through but absorbs radiation from several other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. X-ray telescopes are placed in space.

telescope

Origin of telescope

OTHER WORDS FROM telescope

Words related to telescope

How to use telescope in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for telescope

Word Origin for telescope

Scientific definitions for telescope

Cultural definitions for telescope