telegram
/ˈtɛlɪɡram
/noun
A message sent by telegraph and then delivered in written or printed form, used in the UK only for international messages since 1981.He was a spoilt child and became an utterly self-obsessed adult - he used to lock himself in an upstairs room and send his wife telegrams demanding she deliver him a meal....
- They were the days of letters, telexes, faxes and telegrams.
- They had been writing so regularly - and often sending telegrams - that she knew almost to the day where the herd would be.
Synonyms
telemessage, cable, cablegram, telex;
radiogram, radio-telegraph
informal wire
Origin
Mid 19th century: from tele- 'at a distance' + -gram1, on the pattern of telegraph.
- fighting fish
- fighting fit
- fighting fund
- fighting top
- fighting words
- fight like cat and dog
- fight one's corner
- fight or flight
- fight shy of
- fight someone/thing off
- fight tooth and nail
- fig leaf
- figment
- figmental
- fig parrot
- fig tree
- figura
- figural
- figurant
- figuration
- figurative
- figuratively
- figurativeness
- figure
- figured bass