an apparatus, system, or process for transmitting messages or signals to a distant place, esp. 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.
2.
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.
3.
a telegraphic message.
–verb (used with object)
4.
to transmit or send (a message) by telegraph.
5.
to send a message to (a person) by telegraph.
6.
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.
–verb (used without object)
7.
to send a message by telegraph.
[Origin: < F télégraphe (1792) a kind of manual signaling device; see tele-1, -graph]
A communications system that transmits and receives simple unmodulated electric impulses, especially one in which the transmission and reception stations are directly connected by wires.
A message transmitted by telegraph; a telegram.
v.
tel·e·graphed, tel·e·graph·ing, tel·e·graphs
v.
tr.
To transmit (a message) by telegraph.
To send or convey a message to (a recipient) by telegraph.
To make known (a feeling or an attitude, for example) by nonverbal means: telegraphed her derision with a smirk.
To make known (an intended action, for example) in advance or unintentionally: By massing troops on the border, the enemy telegraphed its intended invasion to the target country.
v.
intr.
To send or transmit a telegram.
te·leg'ra·pher (tə-lěg'rə-fər), te·leg'ra·phist (-fĭst) n.
1794, "semaphor apparatus" (hence the Telegraph Hill in many cities), lit. "that which writes at a distance," from Fr. télégraphe, from télé- "far" (from Gk. tele-) + -graphe. The signaling device had been invented in France in 1791 by the brothers Chappe, who had called it tachygraphe, lit. "that which writes fast," but the better name was suggested to them by Fr. diplomat Comte André-François Miot de Mélito (1762-1841). First applied 1797 to an experimental electric telegraph (designed by Dr. Don Francisco Salva at Barcelona); the practical version was developed 1830s by Samuel Morse. The verb is attested from 1805; fig. meaning "to signal one's intentions" is first attested 1925, originally in boxing.
telegraphAudio Help (těl'ĭ-grāf') Pronunciation Key
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.
Ca"ble\ (k[=a]"b'l), n. [F. c[^a]ble, LL. capulum, caplum, a rope, fr. L. capere to take; cf. D., Dan., & G. kabel, from the French. See Capable.]1. A large, strong rope or chain, of considerable length, used to retain a vessel at anchor, and for other purposes. It is made of hemp, of steel wire, or of iron links. 2. A rope of steel wire, or copper wire, usually covered with some protecting or insulating substance; as, the cable of a suspension bridge; a telegraphic cable. 3. (Arch) A molding, shaft of a column, or any other member of convex, rounded section, made to resemble the spiral twist of a rope; -- called also cable molding. Bower cable, the cable belonging to the bower anchor. Cable road, a railway on which the cars are moved by a continuously running endless rope operated by a stationary motor. Cable's length, the length of a ship's cable. Cables in the merchant service vary in length from 100 to 140 fathoms or more; but as a maritime measure, a cable's length is either 120 fathoms (720 feet), or about 100 fathoms (600 feet, an approximation to one tenth of a nautical mile). Cable tier. (a) That part of a vessel where the cables are stowed. (b) A coil of a cable. Sheet cable, the cable belonging to the sheet anchor. Stream cable, a hawser or rope, smaller than the bower cables, to moor a ship in a place sheltered from wind and heavy seas. Submarine cable. See Telegraph. To pay out the cable, To veer out the cable, to slacken it, that it may run out of the ship; to let more cable run out of the hawse hole. To serve the cable, to bind it round with ropes, canvas, etc., to prevent its being, worn or galled in the hawse, et. To slip the cable, to let go the end on board and let it all run out and go overboard, as when there is not time to weigh anchor. Hence, in sailor's use, to die.
E*lec"tric\, Electrical \E*lec"tric*al\, a. [L. electrum amber, a mixed metal, Gr. ?; akin to ? the beaming sun, cf. Skr. arc to beam, shine: cf. F. ['e]lectrique. The name came from the production of electricity by the friction of amber.]1. Pertaining to electricity; consisting of, containing, derived from, or produced by, electricity; as, electric power or virtue; an electric jar; electric effects; an electric spark. 2. Capable of occasioning the phenomena of electricity; as, an electric or electrical machine or substance. 3. Electrifying; thrilling; magnetic. "Electric Pindar." --Mrs. Browning. Electric atmosphere, or Electric aura. See under Aura. Electrical battery. See Battery. Electrical brush. See under Brush. Electric cable. See Telegraph cable, under Telegraph. Electric candle. See under Candle. Electric cat (Zo["o]l.), one of three or more large species of African catfish of the genus Malapterurus (esp. M. electricus of the Nile). They have a large electrical organ and are able to give powerful shocks; -- called also sheathfish. Electric clock. See under Clock, and see Electro-chronograph. Electric current, a current or stream of electricity traversing a closed circuit formed of conducting substances, or passing by means of conductors from one body to another which is in a different electrical state. Electric, or Electrical, eel (Zo["o]l.), a South American eel-like fresh-water fish of the genus Gymnotus (G. electricus), from two to five feet in length, capable of giving a violent electric shock. See Gymnotus. Electrical fish (Zo["o]l.), any fish which has an electrical organ by means of which it can give an electrical shock. The best known kinds are the torpedo, the gymnotus, or electrical eel, and the electric cat. See Torpedo, and Gymnotus. Electric fluid, the supposed matter of electricity; lightning. Electrical image (Elec.), a collection of electrical points regarded as forming, by an analogy with optical phenomena, an image of certain other electrical points, and used in the solution of electrical problems. --Sir W. Thomson. Electrical light, the light produced by a current of electricity which in passing through a resisting medium heats it to incandescence or burns it. See under Carbon. Electric, or Electrical, machine, an apparatus for generating, collecting, or exciting, electricity, as by friction. Electric motor. See Electro-motor, 2. Electric osmose. (Physics) See under Osmose. Electric pen, a hand pen for making perforated stencils for multiplying writings. It has a puncturing needle driven at great speed by a very small magneto-electric engine on the penhandle. Electric railway, a railway in which the machinery for moving the cars is driven by an electric current. Electric ray (Zo["o]l.), the torpedo. Electric telegraph. See Telegraph.
E*lec"tric\, Electrical \E*lec"tric*al\, a. [L. electrum amber, a mixed metal, Gr. ?; akin to ? the beaming sun, cf. Skr. arc to beam, shine: cf. F. ['e]lectrique. The name came from the production of electricity by the friction of amber.]1. Pertaining to electricity; consisting of, containing, derived from, or produced by, electricity; as, electric power or virtue; an electric jar; electric effects; an electric spark. 2. Capable of occasioning the phenomena of electricity; as, an electric or electrical machine or substance. 3. Electrifying; thrilling; magnetic. "Electric Pindar." --Mrs. Browning. Electric atmosphere, or Electric aura. See under Aura. Electrical battery. See Battery. Electrical brush. See under Brush. Electric cable. See Telegraph cable, under Telegraph. Electric candle. See under Candle. Electric cat (Zo["o]l.), one of three or more large species of African catfish of the genus Malapterurus (esp. M. electricus of the Nile). They have a large electrical organ and are able to give powerful shocks; -- called also sheathfish. Electric clock. See under Clock, and see Electro-chronograph. Electric current, a current or stream of electricity traversing a closed circuit formed of conducting substances, or passing by means of conductors from one body to another which is in a different electrical state. Electric, or Electrical, eel (Zo["o]l.), a South American eel-like fresh-water fish of the genus Gymnotus (G. electricus), from two to five feet in length, capable of giving a violent electric shock. See Gymnotus. Electrical fish (Zo["o]l.), any fish which has an electrical organ by means of which it can give an electrical shock. The best known kinds are the torpedo, the gymnotus, or electrical eel, and the electric cat. See Torpedo, and Gymnotus. Electric fluid, the supposed matter of electricity; lightning. Electrical image (Elec.), a collection of electrical points regarded as forming, by an analogy with optical phenomena, an image of certain other electrical points, and used in the solution of electrical problems. --Sir W. Thomson. Electrical light, the light produced by a current of electricity which in passing through a resisting medium heats it to incandescence or burns it. See under Carbon. Electric, or Electrical, machine, an apparatus for generating, collecting, or exciting, electricity, as by friction. Electric motor. See Electro-motor, 2. Electric osmose. (Physics) See under Osmose. Electric pen, a hand pen for making perforated stencils for multiplying writings. It has a puncturing needle driven at great speed by a very small magneto-electric engine on the penhandle. Electric railway, a railway in which the machinery for moving the cars is driven by an electric current. Electric ray (Zo["o]l.), the torpedo. Electric telegraph. See Telegraph.
Mag*net"ic\, Magnetical \Mag*net"ic*al\, a. [L. magneticus: cf. F. magn['e]tique.]1. Pertaining to the magnet; possessing the properties of the magnet, or corresponding properties; as, a magnetic bar of iron; a magnetic needle. 2. Of or pertaining to, or characterized by, the earth's magnetism; as, the magnetic north; the magnetic meridian. 3. Capable of becoming a magnet; susceptible to magnetism; as, the magnetic metals. 4. Endowed with extraordinary personal power to excite the feelings and to win the affections; attractive; inducing attachment. She that had all magnetic force alone. --Donne. 5. Having, susceptible to, or induced by, animal magnetism, so called; as, a magnetic sleep. See Magnetism. Magnetic amplitude, attraction, dip, induction, etc. See under Amplitude, Attraction, etc. Magnetic battery, a combination of bar or horseshoe magnets with the like poles adjacent, so as to act together with great power. Magnetic compensator, a contrivance connected with a ship's compass for compensating or neutralizing the effect of the iron of the ship upon the needle. Magnetic curves, curves indicating lines of magnetic force, as in the arrangement of iron filings between the poles of a powerful magnet. Magnetic elements. (a) (Chem. Physics) Those elements, as iron, nickel, cobalt, chromium, manganese, etc., which are capable or becoming magnetic. (b) (Physics) In respect to terrestrial magnetism, the declination, inclination, and intensity. (c) See under Element. Magnetic equator, the line around the equatorial parts of the earth at which there is no dip, the dipping needle being horizontal. Magnetic field, or Field of magnetic force, any space through which magnet exerts its influence. Magnetic fluid, the hypothetical fluid whose existence was formerly assumed in the explanations of the phenomena of magnetism. Magnetic iron, or Magnetic iron ore. (Min.) Same as Magnetite. Magnetic needle, a slender bar of steel, magnetized and suspended at its center on a sharp-pointed pivot, or by a delicate fiber, so that it may take freely the direction of the magnetic meridian. It constitutes the essential part of a compass, such as the mariner's and the surveyor's. Magnetic poles, the two points in the opposite polar regions of the earth at which the direction of the dipping needle is vertical. Magnetic pyrites. See Pyrrhotite. Magnetic storm (Terrestrial Physics), a disturbance of the earth's magnetic force characterized by great and sudden changes. Magnetic telegraph, a telegraph acting by means of a magnet. See Telegraph.
Sub`ma*rine"\, a. Being, acting, or growing, under water in the sea; as, submarine navigators; submarine plants. Submarine armor, a waterproof dress of strong material, having a helmet into which air for breathing is pumped through a tube leading from above the surface to enable a diver to remain under water. Submarine cable. See Telegraph cable, under Telegraph. Submarine mine. See Torpedo, 2 (a) .
Tel"e*graph\, n. [Gr. ? far, far off (cf. Lith. toli) + -graph: cf. F. t['e]l['e]graphe. See Graphic.] An apparatus, or a process, for communicating intelligence rapidly between distant points, especially by means of preconcerted visible or audible signals representing words or ideas, or by means of words and signs, transmitted by electrical action. Note: The instruments used are classed as indicator, type-printing, symbol-printing, or chemical-printing telegraphs, according as the intelligence is given by the movements of a pointer or indicator, as in Cooke & Wheatstone's (the form commonly used in England), or by impressing, on a fillet of paper, letters from types, as in House's and Hughe's, or dots and marks from a sharp point moved by a magnet, as in Morse's, or symbols produced by electro-chemical action, as in Bain's. In the offices in the United States the recording instrument is now little used, the receiving operator reading by ear the combinations of long and short intervals of sound produced by the armature of an electro-magnet as it is put in motion by the opening and breaking of the circuit, which motion, in registering instruments, traces upon a ribbon of paper the lines and dots used to represent the letters of the alphabet. See Illustration in Appendix. Acoustic telegraph. See under Acoustic. Dial telegraph, a telegraph in which letters of the alphabet and numbers or other symbols are placed upon the border of a circular dial plate at each station, the apparatus being so arranged that the needle or index of the dial at the receiving station accurately copies the movements of that at the sending station. Electric telegraph, or Electro-magnetic telegraph, a telegraph in which an operator at one station causes words or signs to be made at another by means of a current of electricity, generated by a battery and transmitted over an intervening wire. Facsimile telegraph. See under Facsimile. Indicator telegraph. See under Indicator. Pan-telegraph, an electric telegraph by means of which a drawing or writing, as an autographic message, may be exactly reproduced at a distant station. Printing telegraph, an electric telegraph which automatically prints the message as it is received at a distant station, in letters, not signs. Signal telegraph, a telegraph in which preconcerted signals, made by a machine, or otherwise, at one station, are seen or heard and interpreted at another; a semaphore. Submarine telegraph cable, a telegraph cable laid under water to connect stations separated by a body of water. Telegraph cable, a telegraphic cable consisting of several conducting wires, inclosed by an insulating and protecting material, so as to bring the wires into compact compass for use on poles, or to form a strong cable impervious to water, to be laid under ground, as in a town or city, or under water, as in the ocean. Telegraph plant (Bot.), a leguminous plant (Desmodium gyrans) native of the East Indies. The leaflets move up and down like the signals of a semaphore.
Tel"e*scope\, n. [Gr. ? viewing afar, farseeing; ? far, far off + ? a watcher, akin to ? to view: cf. F. t['e]lescope. See Telegraph, and -scope.] An optical instrument used in viewing distant objects, as the heavenly bodies. Note: A telescope assists the eye chiefly in two ways; first, by enlarging the visual angle under which a distant object is seen, and thus magnifying that object; and, secondly, by collecting, and conveying to the eye, a larger beam of light than would enter the naked organ, thus rendering objects distinct and visible which would otherwise be indistinct and or invisible. Its essential parts are the object glass, or concave mirror, which collects the beam of light, and forms an image of the object, and the eyeglass, which is a microscope, by which the image is magnified. Achromatic telescope. See under Achromatic. Aplanatic telescope, a telescope having an aplanatic eyepiece. Astronomical telescope, a telescope which has a simple eyepiece so constructed or used as not to reverse the image formed by the object glass, and consequently exhibits objects inverted, which is not a hindrance in astronomical observations. Cassegrainian telescope, a reflecting telescope invented by Cassegrain, which differs from the Gregorian only in having the secondary speculum convex instead of concave, and placed nearer the large speculum. The Cassegrainian represents objects inverted; the Gregorian, in their natural position. The Melbourne telescope (see Illust. under Reflecting telescope, below) is a Cassegrainian telescope. Dialytic telescope. See under Dialytic. Equatorial telescope. See the Note under Equatorial. Galilean telescope, a refracting telescope in which the eyeglass is a concave instead of a convex lens, as in the common opera glass. This was the construction originally adopted by Galileo, the inventor of the instrument. It exhibits the objects erect, that is, in their natural positions. Gregorian telescope, a form of reflecting telescope. See under Gregorian. Herschelian telescope, a reflecting telescope of the form invented by Sir William Herschel, in which only one speculum is employed, by means of which an image of the object is formed near one side of the open end of the tube, and to this the eyeglass is applied directly. Newtonian telescope, a form of reflecting telescope. See under Newtonian. Photographic telescope, a telescope specially constructed to make photographs of the heavenly bodies. Prism telescope. See Teinoscope. Reflecting telescope, a telescope in which the image is formed by a speculum or mirror (or usually by two speculums, a large one at the lower end of the telescope, and the smaller one near the open end) instead of an object glass. See Gregorian, Cassegrainian, Herschelian, & Newtonian, telescopes, above. Refracting telescope, a telescope in which the image is formed by refraction through an object glass. Telescope carp (Zo["o]l.), the telescope fish. Telescope fish (Zo["o]l.), a monstrous variety of the goldfish having very protuberant eyes. Telescope fly (Zo["o]l.), any two-winged fly of the genus Diopsis, native of Africa and Asia. The telescope flies are remarkable for having the eyes raised on very long stalks. Telescope shell (Zo["o]l.), an elongated gastropod (Cerithium telescopium) having numerous flattened whorls. Telescope sight (Firearms), a slender telescope attached to the barrel, having cross wires in the eyepiece and used as a sight. Terrestrial telescope, a telescope whose eyepiece has one or two lenses more than the astronomical, for the purpose of inverting the image, and exhibiting objects erect.
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Audio Help [tel-i-graf, -grahf] Pronunciation Key 
