Library / English Dictionary

TELESCOPE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A magnifier of images of distant objects

Synonyms:

scope; telescope

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("telescope" is a kind of...):

magnifier (a scientific instrument that magnifies an image)

Meronyms (parts of "telescope"):

aperture (a device that controls amount of light admitted)

finder; view finder; viewfinder (optical device that helps a user to find the target of interest)

optical prism; prism (optical device having a triangular shape and made of glass or quartz; used to deviate a beam or invert an image)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "telescope"):

astronomical telescope (any telescope designed to collect and record electromagnetic radiation from cosmic sources)

collimator (a small telescope attached to a large telescope to use in setting the line of the larger one)

equatorial (a telescope whose mounting has only two axes of motion, one parallel to the Earth's axis and the other one at right angles to it)

solar telescope (a telescope designed to make observations of the sun)

transit instrument (a telescope mounted on an axis running east and west and used to time the transit of a celestial body across the meridian)

Derivation:

telescopic (capable of discerning distant objects)

telescopic (visible only with a telescope)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make smaller or shorter

Example:

the novel was telescoped into a short play

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "telescope" is one way to...):

concentrate; condense; digest (make more concise)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Crush together or collapse

Example:

my hiking sticks telescope and can be put into the backpack

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "telescope" is one way to...):

crush; mash; squash; squeeze; squelch (to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Credits

 Context examples: 

For, although their largest telescopes do not exceed three feet, they magnify much more than those of a hundred with us, and show the stars with greater clearness.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Previous observations of this nebula with space telescopes studied different wavelengths of infrared light, which did not reveal the details SOFIA detected.

(SOFIA Reveals How the Swan Nebula Hatched, NASA)

Now the Wicked Witch of the West had but one eye, yet that was as powerful as a telescope, and could see everywhere.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

This observational technique was first proposed by the visionary English scientist John Michell in 1783, but it has only become feasible with recent technological improvements in telescopes and detectors.

(Unpredicted stellar black hole discovered by astronomers, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

In the matter of provisions we had enough to last for several weeks, with a sufficiency of tobacco and a few scientific implements, including a large telescope and a good field-glass.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

One of my last thoughts was of the captain, who had so often strode along the beach with his cocked hat, his sabre-cut cheek, and his old brass telescope.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The asteroid is expected to be observable to amateur astronomers with small telescopes and strong binoculars.

(Asteroid to Fly By Earth on January 26, NASA)

National Science Foundation (NSF) provides funding for ALMA, an astronomical interferometer of 66 radio telescopes in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile.

(ALMA spots most distant dusty galaxy hidden in plain sight, National Science Foundation)

The system, which would operate through a telescope near the Australian capital, Canberra, is expected to be finished early next year.

(Australia Developing Lasers to Track, Destroy Space Junk, VOA)

They say its strong magnetic field likely led to its being detected by a large radio-telescope in New Mexico known as the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA).

(Astronomers Discover New Planet Not Orbiting Any Star, VOA)