Meaning of marathon in English

marathon

noun [ C ]

/ˈmær.ə.θən/ us

/ˈmer.ə.θɑːn/

marathon noun [C] (RACE)

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a running race of slightly over 26 miles (42.195 kilometres):

She is running in the New York marathon for the seventh time.

run a marathon It can take weeks to recover after running a marathon.

complete a marathon

finish a marathon

take part in a marathon Over 50,000 runners are expected to take part in the London Marathon today.

do a marathon She did her first marathon in just under three hours.

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The marathon began at a cracking pace.
Running a marathon takes a lot of doing .
Running a marathon is a test of human endurance.
These are the running shoes favoured by marathon runners.
Fibber! You couldn't run two kilometres, let alone a marathon!

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Athletics

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marathon noun [C] (LONG ACTIVITY)

an activity that takes a long time and makes you very tired:

The election broadcast, a nine-hour marathon, lasts until seven o'clock in the morning.

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Difficult things and people

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marathon

adjective [ before noun ]

/ˈmær.ə.θən/ us

/ˈmer.ə.θɑːn/

marathon adjective [before noun] (RACE)

related to marathons (= running races):

marathon runner Marathon runners should be drinking 1 to 2 litres per hour while exercising.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Athletics

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marathon adjective [before noun] (LONG TIME)

used to describe something that takes a very long time and makes you very tired:

marathon session I had a marathon session marking 55 tests yesterday.

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Lasting for a long time

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(Definition of marathon from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

marathon | American Dictionary

marathon

noun [ C ]

/ˈmær·əˌθɑn/

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a long race, run on roads, of 26.2 miles or 42.2 kilometers:

The New York City marathon begins in Staten Island and ends in Manhattan’s Central Park.

A marathon is also an activity that continues for a very long time:

a dance marathon

marathon

adjective [ not gradable ]

/ˈmær·əˌθɑn/

A marathon activity is one that continues for a very long time:

The marathon negotiating session lasted all night.

(Definition of marathon from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of marathon

marathon

The reply in (47) refers to an unbounded situation; 'being engaged in the activity of running seven marathons'.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

However, there are plenty of people still running marathons in their 70s and some of them achieve a perfectly respectable time of under four hours.

From the

Hansard archive

Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

What marathons shall we run in the future?

From the

Hansard archive

Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

I suspect that running marathons without preparation would be less exhausting.

From the

Hansard archive

Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

He played golf, football and ran in half-marathons.

From the

Hansard archive

Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

There have been allusions to other cycling events and to marathons.

From the

Hansard archive

Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

In the inaugural year, 1981, both marathons took place.

From

Wikipedia