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Telescope definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TEL'ESCOPE, n. [Gr. end, or at a distance, probably the latter, and to see.] An optical instrument employed in viewing distant objects, as the heavenly bodies. It assists the eye chiefly in two ways; first, by enlarging the visual angle under which a distant object is seen, and thus magnifying that object; and secondly, by collecting and conveying to the eye a larger beam of light than would enter the naked organ, and thus rendering objects distinct and visible which would otherwise be indistinct or invisible. Its essential parts are the object glass, which collects the beam of light and forms an image of the object, and the eye glass, which is a microscope by which the image is magnified.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a magnifier of images of distant objects [syn: telescope, scope] v
1: crush together or collapse; "In the accident, the cars telescoped"; "my hiking sticks telescope and can be put into the backpack"
2: make smaller or shorter; "the novel was telescoped into a short play"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: New Latin telescopium, from Greek t?leskopos farseeing, from t?le- tele- + skopos watcher; akin to Greek skopein to look — more at spy Date: 1648 1. a usually tubular optical instrument for viewing distant objects by means of the refraction of light rays through a lens or the reflection of light rays by a concave mirror — compare reflector, refractor 2. any of various tubular magnifying optical instruments 3. radio telescope II. verb (-scoped; -scoping) Date: 1867 intransitive verb 1. to become forced together lengthwise with one part entering another as the result of collision 2. to slide or pass one within another like the cylindrical sections of a collapsible hand telescope 3. to become compressed or condensed transitive verb 1. to cause to telescope 2. compress, condense <the book arbitrarily telescopes time and space, and as arbitrarily extends them — Phoebe Adams>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 an optical instrument using lenses or mirrors or both to make distant objects appear nearer and larger. 2 = radio telescope. --v. 1 tr. press or drive (sections of a tube, colliding vehicles, etc.) together so that one slides into another like the sections of a folding telescope. 2 intr. close or be driven or be capable of closing in this way. 3 tr. compress so as to occupy less space or time. Etymology: It. telescopio or mod.L telescopium (as TELE-, -SCOPE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Telescope Tel"e*scope (t[e^]l"[-e]*sk[=o]p), a. Capable of being extended or compacted, like a telescope, by the sliding of joints or parts one within the other; telescopic; as, a telescope bag; telescope table, etc.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Telescope Tel"e*scope, n. [Gr. ? viewing afar, farseeing; ? far, far off + ? a watcher, akin to ? to view: cf. F. t['e]lescope. See Telegraph, and -scope.] An optical instrument used in viewing distant objects, as the heavenly bodies. Note: A telescope assists the eye chiefly in two ways; first, by enlarging the visual angle under which a distant object is seen, and thus magnifying that object; and, secondly, by collecting, and conveying to the eye, a larger beam of light than would enter the naked organ, thus rendering objects distinct and visible which would otherwise be indistinct and or invisible. Its essential parts are the object glass, or concave mirror, which collects the beam of light, and forms an image of the object, and the eyeglass, which is a microscope, by which the image is magnified. Achromatic telescope. See under Achromatic. Aplanatic telescope, a telescope having an aplanatic eyepiece. Astronomical telescope, a telescope which has a simple eyepiece so constructed or used as not to reverse the image formed by the object glass, and consequently exhibits objects inverted, which is not a hindrance in astronomical observations. Cassegrainian telescope, a reflecting telescope invented by Cassegrain, which differs from the Gregorian only in having the secondary speculum convex instead of concave, and placed nearer the large speculum. The Cassegrainian represents objects inverted; the Gregorian, in their natural position. The Melbourne telescope (see Illust. under Reflecting telescope, below) is a Cassegrainian telescope. Dialytic telescope. See under Dialytic. Equatorial telescope. See the Note under Equatorial. Galilean telescope, a refracting telescope in which the eyeglass is a concave instead of a convex lens, as in the common opera glass. This was the construction originally adopted by Galileo, the inventor of the instrument. It exhibits the objects erect, that is, in their natural positions. Gregorian telescope, a form of reflecting telescope. See under Gregorian. Herschelian telescope, a reflecting telescope of the form invented by Sir William Herschel, in which only one speculum is employed, by means of which an image of the object is formed near one side of the open end of the tube, and to this the eyeglass is applied directly. Newtonian telescope, a form of reflecting telescope. See under Newtonian. Photographic telescope, a telescope specially constructed to make photographs of the heavenly bodies. Prism telescope. See Teinoscope. Reflecting telescope, a telescope in which the image is formed by a speculum or mirror (or usually by two speculums, a large one at the lower end of the telescope, and the smaller one near the open end) instead of an object glass. See Gregorian, Cassegrainian, Herschelian, & Newtonian, telescopes, above. Refracting telescope, a telescope in which the image is formed by refraction through an object glass. Telescope carp (Zo["o]l.), the telescope fish. Telescope fish (Zo["o]l.), a monstrous variety of the goldfish having very protuberant eyes. Telescope fly (Zo["o]l.), any two-winged fly of the genus Diopsis, native of Africa and Asia. The telescope flies are remarkable for having the eyes raised on very long stalks. Telescope shell (Zo["o]l.), an elongated gastropod (Cerithium telescopium) having numerous flattened whorls. Telescope sight (Firearms), a slender telescope attached to the barrel, having cross wires in the eyepiece and used as a sight. Terrestrial telescope, a telescope whose eyepiece has one or two lenses more than the astronomical, for the purpose of inverting the image, and exhibiting objects erect.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Telescope Tel"e*scope, a. [imp. & p. p. Telescoped; p. pr. & vb. n. Telescoping.] To slide or pass one within another, after the manner of the sections of a small telescope or spyglass; to come into collision, as railway cars, in such a manner that one runs into another. [Recent]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Telescope Tel"e*scope, v. t. To cause to come into collision, so as to telescope. [Recent]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(telescopes) A telescope is a long instrument shaped like a tube. It has lenses inside it that make distant things seem larger and nearer when you look through it. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Spyglass.

Moby Thesaurus

Cassegrainian telescope, Newtonian telescope, OAO, OSO, abbreviate, abridge, abstract, astronomical observatory, astronomical telescope, binoculars, bob, boil down, capsulize, clip, coelostat, compress, concertina, condense, contract, coronagraph, coronograph, crop, crush, curtail, cut, cut back, cut down, cut off short, cut short, digest, dock, elide, epitomize, field glass, foreshorten, glass, heliostat, mow, nip, observatory, opera glasses, orrery, planetarium, poll, pollard, precis, prune, radar telescope, radio observatory, radio telescope, reap, recap, recapitulate, reduce, reflector, refractor, retrench, scope, shave, shear, shorten, snub, spectrograph, spectroheliograph, spectrohelioscope, spectroscope, spy glass, spyglass, squash, stunt, sum up, summarize, synopsize, take in, terrestrial telescope, trim, truncate, zenith tube, zoom binoculars