Definition of "telescope" in English

noun

1. A monocular optical instrument that magnifies distant objects, especially in astronomy.

2. Any instrument used in astronomy for observing distant objects (such as a radio telescope).

3. (television) A retractable tubular support for lights.

4. A kind of goldfish with protruding eyes, first bred in China.

verb

1. (ambitransitive) To extend or contract in the manner of a telescope.

2. (ambitransitive) To slide or pass one within another, after the manner of the sections of a small telescope or spyglass.

3. (intransitive) To come into collision, as railway cars, in such a manner that one runs into another.

4. (ambitransitive, mathematics, of a series) To collapse, via cancellation.