telegram

plural telegrams · alternative dated telegramme

1. A message transmitted by telegraph.

   On 20 May 1937 when down in Bradford-on-Avon on business, Bulleid received a telegram with the cryptic news: 'Sir Herbert Walker wishes to see you twelve thirty tomorrow—Gresley'.

   1979 August, Graham Burtenshaw, Michael S. Welch, “O.V.S. Bulleid's SR loco-hauled coaches - 1”, in Railway World, page 394

   2 more examples

   There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.[…]Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place. Pushing men hustle each other at the windows of the purser's office, under pretence of expecting letters or despatching telegrams.

   1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC

   Indians awoke on Monday to find their 162-year-old telegram service rendered obsolete, superseded by SMS, e-mail and Twitter. Arguably one of the oldest victims of the digital age, telegrams were the fastest communication method from the 19th century.

   2013 July 15, Monica Sarkar, “The day telegrams came to a final STOP”, in CNN, archived from the original on 25 Mar 2016

   Synonyms: wire, cable, telegrapheme

present singular third person telegrams · participle present telegramming · participle past telegrammed · past telegrammed · alternative dated telegramme

1. intransitiveTo send a telegram.

   He was a very posh chap from Oxfordshire, whose dad had been Chancellor and whose mum was obliged to keep telegramming round to find him a job because little Winnie had flunked out of his very expensive school.

   2021, Otto English, Fake History, page 23

   1 more example

   In the brouhaha over the reappointment of Superior Court Judge Sylvia Pressler, we organized massive support - telegramming, telephoning and writing to encourage the State Senate to exercise its advise and consent function responsibly.

   1984 August 5, “Women Lawyers Unit Describes Its Role”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 24 May 2015

2. transitiveTo send a telegram to (a person).

   So when King – who had been in Atlanta for “Bloody Sunday” – telegrammed Parks about returning to Alabama to take part in a third mass march from Selma to Montgomery, her immediate answer was “Why, of course.”

   2015 March 5, Douglas Brinkley, “Selma’s historic bridge deserves a better name”, in CNN, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2015

3. transitiveTo send (a message) in a telegram.

1. An encrypted, cloud-based instant messaging service.

   Following his arrest, Telegram said Durov had “nothing to hide” and that it was “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.”

   2024 September 23, Clare Duffy, “After CEO’s arrest, Telegram says it will now turn some bad actors’ data over to law enforcement”, in CNN

plural Telegrams

1. A Telegram channel.

   Does anyone have the Telegram link?

present singular third person Telegrams · participle present Telegramming · participle past Telegrammed · past Telegrammed

1. informaltransitiveTo send a message using the Telegram instant messaging service.