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endurance

UK/ɪnˈdjʊəɹəns/US/ɪnˈdʊɹəns/
nounB2Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,320 of 15,258leans written

Endurance is the power to keep going long after it starts to hurt. Build endurance, endurance training, a test of endurance.

In sport it is the technical term for sustained effort, against strength and speed, and endurance events are those lasting hours. Beyond athletics is the general sense: an endurance test, beyond endurance. Note stamina, which is the near synonym; and that Endurance was the name of Shackleton's ship, which was crushed by ice and gave the word an unusually literal demonstration.

Virender Singh Malik · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of endurance

  1. 1nounenduranceThe power to keep going long after it hurts.B2

    “Swimming across the cold lake took great endurance, and she was exhausted by the end.”

    synonyms: stamina

endurance is a lasting strength.

Also accepted in games: stamina

Where it comes from

Old French endurance comes from endurer, to harden — Latin durus, hard. Endurance and durable are the same root, so lasting and hardening are the same idea.

  1. Old French

    endurance

  2. Middle French

    endurance

  3. English, today

    endurance

late 15th century. From Middle French endurance, from Old French endurance. Morphologically endure + ance.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Sports & Fitness, Cycling

Practise this word

endurance in the wild

  • Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least 3 km (1.9 mi).

    Long-distance running

  • Within endurance running come two different types of respiration.

    Long-distance running

  • When a person is able to accomplish or withstand more effort than previously, their endurance is increasing.

    Endurance

  • The act of gaining endurance through physical activity decreases anxiety, depression, and stress, or any chronic disease.

    Endurance

  • First run in 1923, it is the oldest active endurance racing event in the world and is widely considered one of the world's most prestigious races.

    24 Hours of Le Mans

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • endure