noun
telescope
TEHL-ih-skohp
noun
1
An optical instrument that makes distant objects look closer and larger, especially used to view the night sky.
"He set up his telescope in the garden to look at Saturn's rings."
"The observatory's telescope can photograph galaxies millions of light-years away."
verb
1
To slide sections into one another so the whole thing collapses shorter, like the tube of a telescope.
"The front carriages telescoped into each other in the crash."
"You can telescope the tripod's legs down for easy storage."
How to Use Telescope
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe instrument for viewing distant things (especially stars), or — as a verb — to collapse in sliding, overlapping sections like its tube does.
Common pairings
look through a telescope
telescope into each other
Word Forms
telescoped past tense, telescopes plural, telescopes singular
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He set up his _____ in the garden to look at Saturn's rings.
Etymology
From tele- ("far") and -scope ("to look at"), via Latin tēlescopium and Greek τηλεσκόπος. The word was coined in 1611 for one of Galileo's instruments.