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telegrapher

telegrapher

1 9.2
A person who sends and receives messages by coded signals over wires
  • noun
  • /tɛˈlɛɡrəfər/
  • Archaic
translation icon : telégrafo
  • But some telegraphers figured out that they could continue using their device if they unplugged it using just the current induced by the solar storm.
  • Union telegrapher

Examples

  • The days of the railroad empire were over, and the house had been derelict before being taken over by the telegrapher and his family.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • The telegrapher was responsible for conveying urgent news during the war, ensuring communication between troops.

  • Why I was the fastest telegrapher in the business.

  • Peter Tavistock's father was the town telegrapher, a fact Peter had made known to her on her first day.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • The Visalia telegrapher reports the line is down, sir.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • I'm an old-time telegrapher, one of the last in the world.

  • But surely, the telegrapher from Carson City wouldn't allow such foolishness with his equipment.

  • It stood on the east side of town and had been built for the railroad owner, in case he visited in winter and needed a protracted stay, and it commanded the back of the station where the telegrapher's office was located.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Taught to play guitar by his mother Elnora, Gene joined the Fields Brothers Marvelous Medicine Show while still in high school, but after graduation in 1925, he became a railroad telegrapher with the Frisco Railway in Sapulpa, Oklahoma.

    Blog text (6)
  • As a skilled telegrapher, she quickly transmitted important messages across long distances.

Synonyms

telegraph operator
vstelegrapher
  • Archaic
2 7.1

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

is the general professional name for that same role
signaler
vstelegrapher
  • Jargon
1 6.5

A person who sends and reads messages using hands or flags

focuses on exchanging written long distance messages rather than signal codes
telegraphist
vstelegrapher
  • Archaic
8.9

A person who sends and receives messages by telegraph

is a common or alternative label for that professional activity
wirer
vstelegrapher
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who sends messages by telegram

also includes receiving messages, not only sending them
cabler
vstelegrapher
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who sends messages by cable between distant places

covers message work by cable and by other electrical lines
teletypist
vstelegrapher
  • Archaic
9.8

A person who uses a teletype machine to type and send written messages

uses electrical signaling systems rather than typed machine equipment

Surface Forms

telegrapher singular
telegraphers plural

Morphology

telegrapher = telegraph (semi-transparent) = tele + graph + er

Adding the regular agentive suffix -er to telegraph straightforwardly yields a person associated with telegraphing.

Etymology

Telegrapher comes from Greek parts tele- meaning 'far' and -graph meaning 'write', the same pieces you see in telephone and autograph, and the ending -er means 'person who'. A telegrapher was originally the person who 'wrote' or sent messages over long distances, which is why it means someone who sends and receives messages by telegraph.