telethon
[tel-uh-thon]
- a television broadcast lasting several hours, especially one soliciting support for a charity.
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Origin of telethon
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for telethon
Contemporary Examples
George Clooney will also host a telethon on January 22 for MTV.
telethon
- a lengthy television programme to raise charity funds, etc
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Word Origin
C20: from tele- + marathon
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for telethon
n.
prolonged TV fundraiser, 1949, from tele(vision) + (mara)thon (see -athon). Milton Berle's 16-hour television cancer fundraiser in April 1949 might have been the first to be so called.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper