marathons

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of marathon.

   Several marathons across the country were canceled because of the heat wave.

   Elite runners often compete in only two or three marathons a year to avoid injury.

   Note

   The plural counts ordeals as readily as races. It serves the 42.195-kilometer road race, and it serves the broader, figurative use for any extended or sustained activity, so talks, study sessions and long shifts can all be marathons. The same spelling also works as the verb form. The surrounding grammar, not the word itself, tells you which one you are reading.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of marathon.

   He marathons competitively and rarely misses a major race.

   Whenever a new series drops, she marathons it over a single weekend.

   Note

   Two quite different verbs share the -s ending here. Without an object it means running the race (she marathons every spring). With an object it is the informal habit of getting through many instalments of a series or book in one sitting (he marathons the whole box set). The object is the quickest way to tell them apart, and the second use belongs to casual speech rather than formal writing.

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