Meaning & use
telegraph
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountableold-fashioned
A system of sending coded messages along wires using electric signals, widely used before telephones became common.
Grammar: Uncountable as a method (send news by telegraph) and countable as a device or line.
Patterns
- by telegraph
- a telegraph office
- a telegraph line
News of the victory spread across the country by telegraph.
The telegraph lines followed the railway through the valley.
Samuel Morse helped make the telegraph a practical tool.
verbtransitive or intransitiveold-fashioned
To send a message by telegraph.
Grammar: Can take an object (telegraph the news) or not (telegraph to headquarters).
Patterns
- telegraph something to someone
- telegraph someone
The captain telegraphed the news to the port.
She telegraphed her parents that she had arrived safely.
They telegraphed for help when the bridge collapsed.
verbtransitivefigurative
To show your intention or feeling without meaning to, so that others can see it coming.
Grammar: Often used in sports and negotiations: telegraph a move.
Patterns
- telegraph your intentions
- telegraph a move
The boxer telegraphed his punch by dropping his shoulder.
Don't telegraph your surprise when they announce the gift.
His nervous look telegraphed the answer before he spoke.
Word forms
| plural | telegraphs |
|---|---|
| third person singular | telegraphs |
| past tense | telegraphed |
| past participle | telegraphed |
| -ing form | telegraphing |
Common combinations
- telegraph wire
- Birds lined up along the telegraph wire.
- send by telegraph
- The message was sent by telegraph in 1865.
- telegraph pole
- A telegraph pole stood leaning at the side of the road.
- telegraph office
- He ran to the telegraph office with the urgent message.
- telegraph your intentions
- A good player never telegraphs her intentions.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cable
- Cable is often used for messages sent under the sea, and is more old-fashioned than telegraph.
- wire
- Wire, as a verb, is an older informal way to send a telegram, mainly in American English.
- signal
- Signal is wider and covers any sign or sound, not specifically coded electric messages.
- betray
- Betray, for the figurative sense, suggests revealing something you wanted hidden, which is stronger than telegraph.
Opposites
Word family
- telegram noun
- a message sent by telegraph
- telegrapher noun
- a person who sends telegraph messages
- telegraphic adjective
- very brief, like a telegram
- telegraphy noun
- the science of sending messages by telegraph
Commonly confused: telegraph or telephone? telegraph or telegram?
telegraph vs telephone
A telephone carries voice, while the telegraph sent coded signals along wires.
telegraph vs telegram
A telegram is the message sent, while the telegraph is the system for sending it.
Practice
The tennis player kept dropping her shoulder before serving, which ____ where the ball would go.
Choose one answer.
To telegraph here means to reveal an intention in advance without meaning to. The other verbs look similar but have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “telegraph”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.