See Also: telegraph(encyclopedia)
telegraph(medicine)
telegraph(dictionary)
Telegraph, the(dictionary)
The Telegraph(finance)
Daily Telegraph, The(dictionary)
Sunday Telegraph, The(dictionary)
telegraph 1, noun(dictionary)
telegraph 2, verb(dictionary)
Telegraph - Poker(gambling)

telegraph (iou)



telegraph noun & verb. E18.
[French telegraphe: cf. TELE-, -GRAPH.]
A. noun.
1. Any of various signalling devices or systems (orig. a kind of semaphore) for transmitting messages to a distance; esp. one consisting of a transmitter and a receiver connected by a wire along which an electric current passes, the signals being made by making and breaking the circuit (also more fully electric telegraph). Also in titles of newspapers. E18.
attrib.: telegraph boy, telegraph clerk, telegraph message, telegraph wire, etc. fig.: D. Macarthur News..spread rapidly by the 'bamboo telegraph' through the Philippines. bush telegraph: see BUSH noun1. night telegraph letter: see NIGHT noun.
b. A large board displaying scores, results, or other basic information at a cricket match, race meeting, etc., so as to be visible at a distance. Also telegraph board. M19.
2. A telegram. obsolete exc. US dial. E19.
3. A scout, a spy; spec. (Austral. slang) one who warns bush-rangers about the movements of police and pursuing troopers. E19.
Comb.: telegraph blank US a form with spaces for writing the words of a telegram to be dispatched; telegraph board = sense 1b above; telegraph editor US a newspaper journalist who edits news received by telegraph; telegraph key a small lever or other device for making and breaking the circuit of a telegraph; telegraph plant a leguminous plant of tropical Asia, Codariocalyx motorius, in which the leaflets move by jerks under the influence of warmth; telegraph-pole each of a series of poles for carrying a telegraph or telephone wire above the ground.
B. verb.
1. a. verb intrans. Signal by telegraph; send a telegram. E19.
b. verb trans. Send or announce (a message, news, etc.) by telegraph; send a message to, summon, (a person) by telegraph or telegram. E19.
C. Lyell Out of town for two days, he was telegraphed back again. R. Campbell Galloping post-haste to telegraph the news to the Durban Press.
2. fig.
a. verb intrans. Signal (to a person). E19.
b. verb trans. Convey (a signal, message, etc.) by signs; (now rare or obsolete) signal to (a person). E19.
A. Christie Lucy's delicate eyebrows telegraphed..an appeal.
3. verb trans.
a. Sport. Initiate (a punch, throw, move, etc.) in a way that makes one's intention obvious. E20.
b. gen. Give (esp. clumsily or prematurely) an advance indication of (an act, outcome, etc.). M20.
telegrapher noun (a) = telegraphist; (b) a person who sends a telegraph message: L18.
telegra'phese noun (joc. & colloq.) abbreviated language, (a) concise elliptical style L19.
telegraphist noun a person skilled or employed in telegraphy, a telegraph operator M19.