telegram

1 of 2

noun

tele·​gram ˈte-lə-ˌgram 

Southern also -grəm

: a telegraphic dispatch

telegram

2 of 2

verb

tele·​gram ˈte-lə-ˌgram 

telegrammed; telegramming

transitive verb

: telegraph

Examples of telegram in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In the finale, before Lee and Adam learn Aron has been killed in action in World War I, Lee is flipping through a seed catalogue, Adam is planting something, and then the telegram arrives and the two of you share this look. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026

The company started out delivering telegrams and small packages by bicycle. — Harvard Business Review, 20 Oct. 2026

But nobody sent telegrams around the clock, and nobody made international phone calls around the clock. — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 14 Oct. 2026

The program ran from 1947 to the mid-1970s, and during that time as many as 150,000 telegrams a month were being read. — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1852, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1860, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for telegram

• abraham
• anagram
• cablegram
• cofferdam
• dendrogram
• diagram
• diaphragm
• epigram
• hexagram
• histogram
• hologram
• instagram

Kids Definition

telegram

noun

tele·​gram

ˈtel-ə-ˌgram

Southern also -grəm

: a message sent by telegraph