ENGLISH
REFERENCE

jungle telegraph

idiom
Meaning

A system used by primitive cultures in remote tropical regions for communication over long distances, such as drum sounds or a relay of runners.


Examples
SIMPLE

The news spread quickly through the jungle telegraph.

CONTEXTUAL

Before modern technology arrived, the villagers relied on the jungle telegraph to send urgent messages between distant settlements.

COMPLEX

The explorers were amazed to discover that news of their arrival had preceded them, carried across the vast, dense forest by the rhythmic pulses of the jungle telegraph.

Anchors to
Related idioms5entries
  1. 01

    asphalt jungle

    A city or urban area, where the landscape is covered by pavement and the environment is alienating and unsafe.

  2. 02

    bush telegraph

    A system used by undeveloped societies in remote regions for communication over long distances, such as drum sounds, word-of-mouth relay, or smoke signals.

  3. 03

    concrete jungle

    An urban or other populated area containing a high density of buildings constructed of concrete or similar materials, especially one which lacks greenery and which seems unattractive, harsh, or unsafe.

  4. 04

    King of the Jungle

    The lion; Panthera leo.

  5. 05

    mukluk telegraph

    The spread of information and gossip by word of mouth in rural Alaska.

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