English Explanatory Dictionary

telegraph

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Synonym of telegraphy, any process for transmitting arbitrarily long messages over a long distance using a symbolic code.
  2. The electrical device gradually developed in the early 19th century to transmit messages (telegrams) using Morse code; the entire system used to transmit its messages including overhead lines and transoceanic cables.
  3. A visible or audible cue that indicates to an opponent the action that a character is about to take.
verb
  1. To use a telegraph; to send a message by telegraph.
  2. To clearly communicate to another nonverbally (whether by gesture, a change in attitude, or any other sign), and especially unintentionally.

Pronunciation

/ˈtɛl.ɪ.ɡɹɑːf/ /ˈtɛl.ə.ɡɹɑːf/ /ˈtɛl.ɪ.ɡɹæf/ /ˈtɛl.ə.ɡɹæf/ En-us-telegraph.ogg

Word forms

telegraph telegraphs telegraphing telegraphed

Etymology

Borrowed from French télégraphe, equivalent to tele- (“far, distant”) + graph (“writing”), suggested as a new name for Claude Chappe's overland semaphore network by André François Miot de Mélito in place of Chappe's original tachygraphe (“tachygraph, fast writer”).

Synonyms

telegraphy any process for transmitting arbitrarily long messages over a long distance using a symbolic code

Related words

heliograph telegram teleprinter

Derived words

bush telegraph drum telegraph electric telegraph electrotelegraph engine order telegraph jungle telegraph magnetic telegraph marconigraph moccasin telegraph mukluk telegraph needle telegraph omnigraph optical telegraph pantelegraph phototelegraph printing telegraph radiotelegraph random telegraph noise telegraph blank telegraph block telegraph blue telegraph board telegraph boy telegraph cable telegraph carriage telegraph clerk telegraph clock telegraph coach telegraph cock telegraph code telegraph company telegraph cucumber telegraph dial telegraph editor telegrapheme telegrapher telegraphese telegraph form Telegraph Hill telegraph house telegraphic telegraphical telegraph instrument telegraphist telegraph key telegraph-like telegraphlike telegraph line telegraph message telegraph office telegraphone telegraph operator telegraphoscope telegraph plant Telegraph Point telegraph pole telegraph post telegraph reel telegraph register telegraph service
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