Definition of TELEGRAPH

telegraph

Plural: telegraphs

Noun

  • apparatus used to communicate at a distance over a wire (usually in Morse code)
  • Synonym of telegraphy, any process for transmitting arbitrarily long messages over a long distance using a symbolic code.
  • 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.
  • A visible or audible cue that indicates to an opponent the action that a character is about to take.

Verb

  • send cables, wires, or telegrams
  • To use a telegraph.
  • To clearly communicate to another nonverbally, whether by gesture, a change in attitude, or any other sign, especially unintentionally.

Examples

  • Her frown telegraphed her displeasure.
  • The first message transmitted by telegraph in the United States was WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT.
  • This strict sense of telegraph developed from French usage for Napoleon's overland semaphore network but rather arbitrarily excludes similar Chinese and other signalling networks.

Origin / 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

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

Scrabble Score: 15

telegraph: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
telegraph: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
telegraph: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 17

telegraph: valid Words With Friends Word