Meaning & use

telescope

noun·Everyday

An optical instrument that uses lenses or mirrors to make distant objects, especially in space, appear closer and larger.

See it in a sentence

Through the telescope, we could clearly see the rings of Saturn.

The observatory's telescope helped astronomers discover a new comet.

A note on using this word

As a verb, "telescope" can mean to collapse or compress sections into one another, like a collapsible telescope tube.

Words with a similar meaning

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Another way to use it

2. verb

To compress or collapse something, such as events or sections, so they overlap or shorten.

The editor telescoped three chapters into one to speed up the story.

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