an optical instrument for making distant objects appear larger and therefore nearer. One of the two principal forms (refracting telescope) 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) 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.
2.
(initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Telescopium.
–adjective
3.
consisting of parts that fit and slide one within another.
–verb (used with object)
4.
to force together, one into another, or force into something else, in the manner of the sliding tubes of a jointed telescope.
5.
to shorten or condense; compress: to telescope the events of five hundred years into one history lecture.
–verb (used without object)
6.
to slide together, or into something else, in the manner of the tubes of a jointed telescope.
7.
to be driven one into another, as railroad cars in a collision.
8.
to be or become shortened or condensed.
Origin: 1610–20; tele-1+ -scope; r. telescopium (< NL; see -ium) and telescopio (< It)
(click for larger image in new window) n. A telescope in which light from an object is gathered and focused by lenses, with the resulting image magnified by the eyepiece.
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.
[tel-uh-skohp] 
noun, adjective, verb, -scoped, -scop⋅ing.
) Astronomy. the constellation Telescopium.
