/ ˈtelɪskəʊp; NAmE -skoʊp/ noun , verb
■ noun
a piece of equipment shaped like a tube, containing lenses , that you look through to make objects that are far away appear larger and nearer :
to look at the stars through a telescope
—see also radio telescope
■ verb
1.
[ v , vn ] to become shorter, or make sth shorter, by sliding sections inside one another
2.
[ vn ] telescope sth (into sth) to reduce sth so that it happens in less time :
Three episodes have been telescoped into a single programme.
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 17th cent.: from Italian telescopio or modern Latin telescopium , from tele- at a distance + -scopium (from Greek skopein look at).