telethon
Americannoun
-
telethons
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of telethon
1945–50; tele- 1 + -thon ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He met his wife, broadcaster Kimberly Hunt, during a United Cerebral Palsy telethon while still a Chargers player.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
And for those who love entertainment, seeing the Oscars go forward as a partial telethon could make celebrating Hollywood’s biggest night far less odious.
From Salon ● Jan. 14, 2025
Sir Lenny Henry is to host Comic Relief for the final time when the BBC fundraising telethon returns in March.
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2024
One of Robertson’s innovations was to use the secular talk-show format on the network’s flagship show, the “700 Club,” which grew out of a telethon when Robertson asked 700 viewers for monthly $10 contributions.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 8, 2023
The county executive of Baltimore County helped lead a telethon that raised money for the widow of Sergeant Prothero and his children.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
That and the dozen “Comic Relief” telethons that followed raised awareness and money to fight poverty in the U.S. and elsewhere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025
It’s like the Jerry Lewis telethons of the old days, only way more interactive.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 13, 2022
Lewis hosted several telethons in the 1950s, both with Dean Martin and as a solo performer, for what would become the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and started hosting the annual Labor Day broadcasts in 1966.
From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2020
With a unifying, proactive tone established by the White House, there could have been national telethons to raise money for the victims.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2020
Even though I was only five, I had watched enough Easter Seals telethons to know this was bad.
From "Out of My Mind" by Sharon M. Draper
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
