to heliograph
9.9
To send a message by making flashes of sunlight with a mirror
- verb
- /ˈhiːliəˌɡræf/
- Archaic
:
heliografiar
- He used a mirror to heliograph his distress signal to the rescue team.
Examples
-
In the sunlit desert, they learned how to heliograph using simple reflective techniques.
-
During the military exercise, they trained to heliograph messages across the canyon.
-
Get my hand mirror, stand out on the desert at noon, and heliograph the fucking mother ship.
Fiction book (2002)
Synonyms
5
6.4
To send a message over long wires using electric signals
uses reflected sunlight with a mirror rather than wires or electrical signals
Surface Forms
heliograph infinitive
heliographed past
heliographed past participle
heliographing present participle
heliographs third person singular
Etymology
The verb heliograph has the same parts, helio- 'sun' and -graph 'write', like in telegraph. So to heliograph is to 'write with the sun', that is, to send a message by reflecting sunlight with a mirror.