telegraph
an apparatus, system, or process for transmitting messages or signals to a distant place, especially 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.
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.
a message sent by telegraph; a telegram.
to transmit or send (a message) by telegraph.
to send a message to (a person) by telegraph.
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.
to send a message by telegraph.
Origin of telegraph
1Other words from telegraph
- te·leg·ra·pher [tuh-leg-ruh-fer] /təˈlɛg rə fər/ especially British, te·leg·ra·phist, noun
- pre·tel·e·graph, adjective
- re·tel·e·graph, verb
- un·tel·e·graphed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use telegraph in a sentence
In a show that so frequently telegraphs its moves, it was a welcome change to be surprised.
Stop Hating on ‘Modern Family’ (But Also Stop Giving It Emmys) | Jason Lynch | October 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHer welcome telegraphs a shows of solidarity with these two organizations because of that defining ideological stance.
There is also an inland system of telegraphs connecting the chief towns with one another and with Uganda.
Revenue is derived chiefly from customs, licences and excise, railway earnings, and posts and telegraphs.
The boiler-room telegraphs, stoking indicators, rudder indicators, clocks and thermostats were also electrical.
Loss of the Steamship 'Titanic' | British Government
Several of this variety of writing telegraphs have been made, some of them almost successful, but all lacking the vital essential.
Steam Steel and Electricity | James W. SteeleDo we want to socialize our railroads, our coal mines, our telegraphs and telephones?
The Book of Life: Vol. I Mind and Body; Vol. II Love and Society | Upton Sinclair
British Dictionary definitions for telegraph
/ (ˈtɛlɪˌɡræf, -ˌɡrɑːf) /
a device, system, or process by which information can be transmitted over a distance, esp using radio signals or coded electrical signals sent along a transmission line connected to a transmitting and a receiving instrument
(as modifier): telegraph pole
a message transmitted by such a device, system, or process; telegram
to send a telegram to (a person or place); wire
(tr) to transmit or send by telegraph
(tr) boxing informal to prepare to deliver (a punch) so obviously that one's opponent has ample time to avoid it
(tr) to give advance notice of (anything), esp unintentionally
(tr) Canadian informal to cast (votes) illegally by impersonating registered voters
Derived forms of telegraph
- telegraphist (tɪˈlɛɡrəfɪst) or telegrapher, noun
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 telegraph
[ tĕl′ĭ-grăf′ ]
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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