Megillah

n.

1. Judaism. The scroll containing the biblical narrative of the Book of Esther, traditionally read in synagogues to celebrate the festival of Purim.
2. megillah Slang. A tediously detailed or embroidered account: told us the whole megillah.

[Hebrew məgillâ, scroll, from gālal, to roll.]

(meh-GIL-uh)

noun
A long, tedious account.

Etymology
From Yiddish megile (scroll), from Hebrew megillah, from galal (to roll). The term alludes to the length of the text in the Book of Esther which is read in its entirety, twice, during Purim, a Jewish festival

Usage
"But the obvious challenge was to go through the whole megillah -- to begin with the Andante in C Major, which Mozart wrote when he was five, and proceed to the bitter end, the Requiem." — Alex Ross; The Storm of Style; The New Yorker; Jul 24, 2006

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Parchment scroll containing the text of the Old Testament Book of Esther, which recounts the deliverance of the Jews from persecution in the Persian empire and which was probably written during the reign of the Hasmonean Jewish king John Hyrcanus (reg c. 135-105 BC). The Book of Esther has since then traditionally been read in the synagogue on the festival of Purim, for which purpose it was copied separately in the form of a scroll (Megillah; see also JEWISH ART,

See the Abbreviations for further details.

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("Scroll"). Tenth tractate of Order Mo'Ed in the Mishnah. Its four chapters deal principally with the times, places, and manner of reading the Scroll of Esther on Purim. Also included are laws governing the four special Sabbaths (see Sabbaths. Special), the manner of reading from a Scroll of the Law and the prophetic portion (Haftarah), and general synagogue procedure. In the time of the Mishnah, all books were written on a megillah (scroll), but later "the Megillah" came to mean the Scroll of Esther. The subject matter is amplified in both Talmuds and the Tosefta.

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