— telegrapher /teuh leg"reuh feuhr/ ; esp. Brit., telegraphist , n.
/tel"i graf', -grahf'/ , n.
1. an apparatus, system, or process for transmitting messages or signals to a distant place, esp. by means of an electric device consisting essentially of a sending instrument and a distant receiving instrument connected by a conducting wire or other communications channel.
2. Naut. an apparatus, usually mechanical, for transmitting and receiving orders between the bridge of a ship and the engine room or some other part of the engineering department.
3. a telegraphic message.
v.t.
4. to transmit or send (a message) by telegraph.
5. to send a message to (a person) by telegraph.
6. Informal. to divulge or indicate unwittingly (one's intention, next offensive move, etc.), as to an opponent or to an audience; broadcast: The fighter telegraphed his punch and his opponent was able to parry it. If you act nervous too early in the scene, you'll telegraph the character's guilt.
v.i.
7. to send a message by telegraph.
[ télégraphe (1792) a kind of manual signaling device; see TELE- 1 , -GRAPH ]