Meaning & use
telethon
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Meaning
nouncountable
A very long television show, usually lasting hours, made to collect money for a charity.
Grammar: Countable, so it can be singular or plural: a telethon, several telethons.
Patterns
- hold a telethon
- appear on a telethon
- a charity telethon
The local hospital held a telethon that raised over a million dollars.
Famous actors and musicians appeared on the telethon to encourage donations.
We stayed up late watching the telethon and finally pledged fifty dollars.
Word forms
| plural | telethons |
|---|
Common combinations
- charity telethon
- The annual charity telethon was broadcast live from the studio.
- hold a telethon
- The school decided to hold a telethon to fund new computers.
- televised telethon
- Viewers called in during the televised telethon to make donations.
- pledge during a telethon
- Many people pledge during a telethon after seeing emotional stories.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fundraiser
- A general word for any event that collects money, not necessarily on television.
- marathon
- Used for any very long event, but telethon specifically means a television broadcast for charity.
Word family
- telethon noun
- The only common form; no verb or adjective is widely used.
Commonly confused: telethon or marathon?
telethon vs marathon
A marathon is a long race or any long event; a telethon is specifically a charity TV show.
Practice
What is a telethon?
Choose one answer.
A telethon is a long TV show for charity. Option 3 confuses it with telephone, and option 4 confuses it with marathon, though the length is similar.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “telethon”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.