- the length of time that something lasts or continues
- The school was used as a hospital for the duration of the war.
- a contract of three years’ duration
Extra Examples- Taking antibiotics will shorten the duration of the illness.
- The next contract will be of shorter duration.
- The overall duration of the flight was 11 hours.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- brief
- short
- limited
- …
- decrease
- reduce
- shorten
- …
- for the duration (of)
- of… duration
- throughout the duration of
- …
Word Originlate Middle English: via Old French from medieval Latin duratio(n-), from durare ‘to last’, from durus ‘hard’.Definitions on the go
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Idioms
See duration in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee duration in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishfor the duration
- (informal) until the end of a particular situation, especially a war
- His wife and children had gone for the duration to the Lake District to escape the bombs.
Check pronunciation:
duration