either of two systems of clicks and pauses, short and long sounds, or flashes of light, used to represent the letters of the alphabet, numerals, etc.: now used primarily in radiotelegraphy by ham operators.
1867, earlier Morse key (1858), in allusion to Samuel F.B. Morse (1791-1872), U.S. inventor who produced a system of telegraphic communication 1836. He invented both the recording telegraph and the alphabet of dots and dashes.
