megillah

American  

[muh-gil-uh, muh-gee-lah] / məˈgɪl ə, mə giˈlɑ /

Or megilla

noun

• megillahs,
  plural
• megilloth,
  plural
• megillot
  plural

1. Slang.

   1. a lengthy, detailed explanation or account.

      Just give me the facts, not the whole megillah.

   2. a lengthy and tediously complicated situation or matter.

2. (italics) a scroll, especially one containing the Book of Esther. Others are the Book of Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, the Book of Ruth, and the Book of Lamentations.

---

megillah British  

/ miɡiˈla, məˈɡɪlə /

noun

1. a scroll of the Book of Esther, read on the festival of Purim

2. a scroll of the Book of Ruth, Song of Songs, Lamentations, or Ecclesiastes

3. slang anything, such as a story or letter, that is too long or unduly drawn out

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• megillahs
  plural
• megillot
  plural
• megilloth
  plural

Etymology

Origin of megillah

First recorded in 1910–15; from Yiddish megile, from Biblical Hebrew məgillāh “scroll, roll, volume,” from gālal “to roll”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

megillah

No, wait, he wants to buy the whole megillah!

From The Verge ● Apr. 16, 2022

While the other offers snacky highlights from the Public Kitchen menu, this one serves the whole megillah.

From New York Times ● Oct. 10, 2017

Pride’s sisters and her father testified for the prosecution, and the whole megillah has estranged Pride and Warren from the rest of their family.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 17, 2015

At trial, and then in defending their victory on appeal, they went for the whole megillah: a broad ruling that marriage is a fundamental constitutional right for everyone, full stop, right now.

From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2012

But who invented stars, I pray, And got the whole megillah moving?

From Time Magazine Archive