marathon

SayMA-ruh-thonUS/ˈmæɹəˌθɑn/AUS/ˈmæɹə(ˌ)θɔn/UKMA-ruh-thuhn/ˈmæɹəθən/

4 meanings of marathon

1
nouncountable
A long running race of about 26 miles, held on roads.
Like running all the way across a big city without stopping.
She trained for months to finish her first marathon.
Thousands of runners line up at the start of the city marathon.
2
nounfigurativelycountable
Something that takes a very long time and a lot of effort to finish.
Like a job so long that finishing it feels as tiring as running for hours.
Moving to a new house turned into a real marathon.
The meeting was a marathon that lasted all afternoon.
Similarslog, ordeal, grind
3
verbcolloquialtransitive
To watch or read many parts of a show or book at one time.
Like eating a whole box of cookies in one go instead of one a day.
We decided to marathon the whole series over the weekend.
They marathon their favorite cartoons every Saturday morning.
Similarbinge
4
verbintransitive
To run in a race that is about 26 miles long.
Like swimming all the way across a wide lake without stopping to rest.
He trained all year so he could marathon next spring.
Many people marathon for charity each year.

Practice

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Origin

From French marathon, made up in 1894 for the first modern Olympic Games. It is named after Marathon, a town near Athens in ancient Greece. A Greek man ran from Marathon to Athens to bring news of a battle, and the race is about the same distance.