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telescopic sight

telescopic sight

1 7.4
A small telescope fixed to a gun to help aim at distant targets
  • noun
  • /tɛləˈskɑpɪk saɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : mira telescópica
  • "Curt lovingly lifted the weapon to his shoulder and sighted through the telescopic sight.
  • rifle with a telescopic sight

Examples

  • We'll have a rifle on him, with a real fine sharpshooter behind it, with one of them fancy new telescopic sights.

  • Most people can't bag a deer with a rifle and a telescopic sight.

  • Now what kind of device has a telescopic sight mounted on it?

  • Have you got three rifles with telescopic sights?

  • And Mr. Lance has a rifle with a new telescopic sight.

  • Their telescopic sights lock on Gillespie and Salt.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • It's a telescopic sight.

  • It has an offset, inexpensive telescopic sight.

  • Snipers with .22 rifles and telescopic sights straddle the rooftops.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The hunter adjusted his aim by looking through the telescopic sight of his rifle.

Synonyms

scope
vstelescopic sight
54 6.6

An optical device like a telescope or rifle sight that makes distant things look closer

is narrower and used on firearms to give precise distant aiming
telescope sight
vstelescopic sight
  • Specialized
6.7

A small tube with lenses mounted on a gun to help aim at distant targets

is the same concept often expressed with a different term
riflescope
vstelescopic sight
  • Specialized
4.9

A tube on a rifle that makes distant targets look closer to help you aim

is broader and used on many firearms and always contains a telescope

Antonyms

open sight
  • Specialized
7.3

A simple part on a gun with an open notch for aiming

How Magnified

riflescope
  • Specialized
4.9
telescopic sight
  • Specialized
1 7.4
sight
  • Specialized
91 6.6

Surface Forms

Morphology

telescopic + sight

The meaning 'an optical aiming device with a telescope' is directly derivable from combining 'telescopic' (relating to a telescope) with 'sight' (an optical aiming device). This straightforward adjective+noun composition follows regular English modifier patterns and has close parallels in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would understand it.

Etymology

Telescopic sight comes from the simple image of a sight (something that helps you aim) with a small telescope attached. Hunters and soldiers put a small telescope on a gun so they could see far away and 'aim' better, so today a telescopic sight means a sight that helps you hit 'distant targets'.