Noun: marathon 'mer-u,thón [N. Amer], ma-ru-thun [Brit]
- A footrace of 26 miles 385 yards
"She trained for months to compete in the Boston Marathon"
- Any long and arduous undertaking
"Writing a dissertation is an academic marathon";
- endurance contest
- A battle in 490 BC in which the Athenians and their allies defeated the Persians
- battle of Marathon
Derived forms: marathons
Type of: foot race, footrace, labor [US], labour [Brit, Cdn], pitched battle, project, run, task, undertaking
Encyclopedia: Marathon, Ontario