Binge-Watching
Meaning: Watching many episodes of a TV show, one after another, in one sitting.
Binge-watching means watching many episodes of a show in one sitting—something streaming services like Netflix made popular. The term “binge” originally referred to overindulging in food or drink. Now, we “binge” TV shows, often losing track of time. (We’ve all been there!)
How to use it
It’s everyday, casual English and fine in most settings. The verb is “binge-watch,” and people often shorten it to just “binge”: “I binged the whole season.” It can sound a little guilty or funny, as if you watched more than you meant to.
Examples
- I binge-watched the whole season in one weekend.
- What are you bingeing right now?
- Let’s order pizza and binge something tonight.
A common mistake
No preposition is needed: binge-watch a show, not “binge-watch on a show.” In writing, keep the hyphen: binge-watch, not “binge watch.”
Where it comes from
“Binge” meant a bout of heavy drinking in the 1800s and later any kind of overdoing, like binge eating. “Binge-watch” spread in the 2010s as streaming made whole seasons available at once, and Collins Dictionary chose it as its word of the year in 2015.
Say it out loud
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Source: Collins Dictionary