Meaning & use
a telescope
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Meanings
nouncountable
One optical instrument that makes faraway things look nearer and bigger, used especially to view stars and planets.
Grammar: Countable noun: one is 'a telescope', two are 'telescopes'. The article 'a' belongs to the phrase, not to the word itself.
Patterns
- look through a telescope
- a telescope on a tripod
- build a telescope
He set up a telescope in the backyard to watch the moon.
Through a telescope, the rings of Saturn become clearly visible.
She bought a telescope for her son because he loves the night sky.
nouncountabletechnical
Any device that gathers light or radio waves from space so scientists can study distant objects.
Grammar: Used in technical writing; the article 'a' still appears before the singular form.
Patterns
- a radio telescope
- a space telescope
- point a telescope at something
A radio telescope can detect signals that our eyes cannot see.
The observatory operates a telescope high in the mountains.
Word forms
| plural | telescopes |
|---|
Common combinations
- look through a telescope
- We took turns looking through a telescope at the bright planet.
- set up a telescope
- It took him ten minutes to set up a telescope on the roof.
- a powerful telescope
- A powerful telescope revealed thousands of stars in that small patch of sky.
- point a telescope at something
- Point a telescope at the horizon and you may spot the International Space Station.
Synonyms and how they differ
- binoculars
- Binoculars are held in both hands and give a wide view; a telescope is usually larger, often on a stand, and magnifies more.
- spyglass
- Spyglass is an old-fashioned word for a small handheld telescope, common in stories about sailors.
Word family
- telescopic adjective
- Relating to a telescope, or able to see far; also describes something that slides into itself.
- telescope verb
- To fold or slide one part inside another, as when a collapsing tube shortens.
Commonly confused: a telescope or microscope? a telescope or periscope?
a telescope vs microscope
A microscope makes very small nearby things look bigger; a telescope makes large distant things look closer.
a telescope vs periscope
A periscope lets you see over or around an obstacle, often from a submarine; a telescope is for looking at distant objects directly.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
'A telescope' keeps the article before the singular noun, so 'through a telescope' is correct. Option 2 wrongly makes the noun plural after 'a', and options 3 and 4 put the words in the wrong order.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a telescope”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.