🖼️ A sent photo 🖼️ To send a photo

wirephoto

7.7

A photograph sent electronically to newspapers for printing

noun
/ˈwaɪərˌfoʊtoʊ/

Archaic

: wirephoto

Before digital cameras, newspapers relied on wirephotos to get images from distant locations quickly.

Examples

The editor received a wirephoto of the disaster just in time for the morning edition.
Many newspapers rely on wirephotos for breaking news.
A historic wirephoto captured the moment the treaty was signed and was published worldwide.
The wirephoto arrived just in time for the evening news.
The journalist sent a wirephoto of the breaking news to the newspaper's headquarters.
She frequently used wirephotos to report live events for the news agency.
After the event, the editor requested a wirephoto to accompany the article in the next edition.

Synonyms

photograph

vswirephoto

860 1.4

A picture taken with a camera of a person, place, or thing

is specifically sent electronically over telegraph or telephone lines for reporting

telephotograph

vswirephoto

Archaic

9.9

A photograph sent electronically over a distance

is sent specifically through telegraph or telephone lines rather than general electronic ways

radiophotograph

vswirephoto

Literature

9.9

A picture sent by radio waves to another place

is sent via telegraph or telephone wires rather than by radio waves

radiophoto

vswirephoto

Archaic

9.3

A photograph sent by radio waves

travels along wired telephone or telegraph lines instead of radio transmission

Surface Forms

wirephoto singular

wirephotos plural

Morphology

wirephoto = wire + photo (transparent) = wire + photo

The meaning is a straightforward compound of 'wire' and 'photo', referring to a photograph transmitted over wire lines.

Etymology

Wirephoto comes from joining wire ('a metal line that carries telegraph or telephone signals') and photo ('picture'). It was used for a photograph sent over the wire to newspapers, so a wirephoto is a picture sent electronically for news.