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telegraph

telegraph

33 4.4
A system that sends messages over long wires using Morse code
  • noun
  • /ˈtɛlɪˌgræf/
  • Archaic
: telégrafo
  • In the 19th century, the telegraph revolutionized long-distance communication by sending messages quickly over wires.
  • telegraph line
  • telegraph operator
  • telegraph wire

And I went, so this is before Telegraph, this is before Internet.

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Examples

  • Finally, Mr. Johnson emerged from the telegraph office with a piece of paper fluttering in his hand.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The large main room is filled with telegraph operators receiving election returns.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Might not there be a telegraph office in town?

  • The only place open will be the telegraph office.

  • The net may be different from the telegraph in several ways, but this is not one of them.

    Academic text (1997)
  • In theory, the Monument was to house a telegraph office and other office space.

    Academic text (2008)
  • The army had to take over the telegraph... or we'd be cut off from the world.

  • Landon says that they have always found themselves enthralled with old Telegraph keys.

  • From the station roof, Lawrence and Hubert Young cut the Telegraph link between Palestine and Syria.

  • Samuel Morse, who in 1844 would commercialize the telegraph, came to observe.

    Academic text (2000)

Compounds

3 7.1

A person who sends and receives long-distance messages along wires

telegraph wire
  • Archaic
2 4.8

A wire that carries messages or signals over long distances

telegraph line
  • Archaic
1 4.5

Wires that carry messages or phone calls over long distances

A tall wooden or metal post that holds telephone wires above the ground

telegraph key
  • Archaic
1 7.7

A small lever device used to send messages as dots and dashes by making and breaking an electric circuit

1 7.9

An informal way people pass news and rumors by talking

1 7.1

Sending messages by radio using dots and dashes called Morse code

A tall pole that holds telephone or telegraph wires

telegraph form
  • Archaic
1 8.2

A printed form you use to write a telegram

1 9.9

A line of towers with moving panels that send messages by sight over long distances

1 8.4

A way news or rumors spread quickly among people

1 9.9

A tower with moving arms that shows messages to people far away

9.9

An early machine that printed messages on paper tape in the 1800s

9.9

A system that sends messages over long distances using towers with moving arms or lights

9.9

A tropical shrub with small leaves that move up and down in sunlight

A line of towers with moving shutters that send messages people can see over long distances

How Far

satellite transmitter
  • Specialized
1 4.1
radio signal
  • Specialized
30 2.7
telegraph
  • Archaic
33 4.4
semaphore line
  • Archaic
1 8.7
flag signal
  • Specialized
1 6.3
signing
5 3.7

Surface Forms

telegraph singular
telegraphs plural

Morphology

telegraph = tele + graph

The learned elements suggest something for writing or signaling at a distance, but the specific historical device for long-distance wired communication is not fully obvious to most learners.

Etymology

Telegraph comes from the Greek parts tele- 'far', as in telephone, and -graph 'write', as in autograph. The telegraph was the machine that 'wrote from far', so the name became the word for the system that sent messages across long distances.