telescope

Etymology

tele- + -scope. From Latin tēlescopium, from Ancient Greek τηλεσκόπος (tēleskópos, “far-seeing”), from τῆλε (têle, “afar”) + σκοπέω (skopéō, “I look at”). Coined in 1611 by the Greek mathematician Giovanni Demisiani for one of Galileo Galilei's instruments presented at a banquet at the Accademia dei Lincei. Doublet of Telescopium.

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.
   In some studios the telescopes are fixed to the lighting grid […] 1963, Television Engineering: Report, page 245

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To extend or contract in the manner of a telescope.
2. (transitive, intransitive) 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. (transitive, intransitive, mathematics, of a series) To collapse, via cancellation.