telescope

/ˌtɛləˈskoʊp/

/ˈtɛləskəʊp/

Other forms: telescopes; telescoped; telescoping

A telescope is an instrument that is used to view distant objects. If you want to look at the planets, you can use a telescope. The higher the magnification on the telescope, the better your view will be.

Galileo is often credited with the invention of the telescope, but this is incorrect. Although he didn't invent it, he did improve it — a lot. He didn't name the telescope either; Greek mathematician Giovanni Demisiani did, in 1611. Telescope is from the Greek roots tele."far," and skopos, "seeing;" so it literally describes what the instrument does. As a verb, telescope means "to become smaller through one part sliding into another," the way a portable collapsing telescope does.

Definitions of telescope

1. noun

   a magnifier of images of distant objects
   synonyms: scope

   types:

   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

   optical telescope

   an astronomical telescope designed to collect and record light from cosmic sources

   radio reflector, radio telescope

   astronomical telescope that picks up electromagnetic radiations in the radio-frequency range from extraterrestrial sources

   type of:

   magnifier

   a scientific instrument that magnifies an image
2. verb

   crush together or collapse
   “In the accident, the cars telescoped”

   “my hiking sticks telescope and can be put into the backpack”

   type of:

   crush, mash, squash, squeeze, squelch

   compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition
3. verb

   make smaller or shorter
   “the novel was telescoped into a short play”

   type of:

   concentrate, condense, digest

   make more concise