continental

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adjective con·ti·nen·tal \ ˌkän-tə-ˈnen-tᵊl \

Definition of continental

1 a :of, relating to, or characteristic of a continent

continental waters

; specifically, often capitalized :of or relating to the continent of Europe excluding the British Isles

b often capitalized :of, relating to, or being a cuisine derived from the classic dishes of Europe and especially France

2 a often capitalized :of or relating to the colonies later forming the U.S.

Continental Congress

b :being the part of the U.S. on the North American continent; also :being the part of the U.S. comprising the lower 48 states

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continentally

play \ˌkän-tə-ˈnen-tə-lē\ adverb

See continental defined for English-language learners

See continental defined for kids

Examples of continental in a Sentence

They will be touring Continental Europe.
differences between Britain and its Continental neighbors
The hotel combines American comfort with continental elegance.

Recent Examples of continental from the Web

The airline uses the Airbus A350, which will make its debut at the airport Travelers between Los Angeles and Hong Kong will be the first to benefit as Hong Kong Airlines expands into the continental United States.

— lisa beebe, Los Angeles Magazine, "LAX is Getting Hong Kong Airlines’ First Nonstop Flight to the Continental U.S.," 30 Aug. 2017
The British and the French wooed the Indians with alcohol in an effort to gain an advantage in their continental rivalry.

— Longreads, "America’s First Addiction Epidemic," 29 Aug. 2017
Later today, the sky will darken as the moon passes in front of the sun during the first total solar eclipse to touch the continental United States in 38 years.

— jay bennett, Popular Mechanics, "You Will Be Able to See Four Planets During the Total Solar Eclipse," 21 Aug. 2017
The eclipse will come on the heels of the 2017 event, which came nearly a decade after the last eclipse visible from coast to coast, and 38 years after the last such eclipse was visible in the continental United States.

— mallorie sullivan, Cincinnati.com, "Don't pitch your eclipse glasses: Ohio is the heart of 2024 solar event," 21 Aug. 2017
The next annular solar eclipse that can be seen in the continental United States will be on Oct. 14, 2023, which will be visible from Northern California to Florida.

— AL.com, "Solar eclipse 2017: Best places to see, times, maps, safety tips, livestream and more," 20 Aug. 2017
On Monday, the continental United States will experience its first total solar eclipse since 1979.

— karla peterson, sandiegouniontribune.com, "After the eclipse, check out San Diego's natural wonders," 18 Aug. 2017
Royal Caribbean International The eclipse is the first total solar eclipse — in which the moon completely blocks the sun and only the sun’s atmosphere is visible — to cross the continental United States in 99 years.

— chabeli herrera, miamiherald, "Bonnie Tyler will sing hit ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ on a cruise ship during eclipse," 17 Aug. 2017
Back in the studio, Walter Cronkite tells us there will not be another total solar eclipse to touch the continental United States this century.

— tyler nordgren, Discover Magazine, "Eclipse 2017: Darkness Is Coming," 7 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'continental.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of continental

1755

continental

noun

Definition of continental

1 a often capitalized :an American soldier of the Revolution in the Continental army

b (1) :a piece of Continental paper currency

(2) :the least bit

not worth a continental

2 :an inhabitant of a continent and especially the continent of Europe

See continental defined for English-language learners

Examples of continental in a Sentence

complained that today's youth doesn't care a continental about their elders

Recent Examples of continental from the Web

Wind drives water at the surface of the shallow continental shelf, at depths of about 300 feet (91 meters), north to water off the shelf, which drops to depths of more than 10,000 feet (3,050 meters).

— Washington Post, "Arctic researchers to study wind effects on marine life," 22 Aug. 2017
For her next challenge Pillinger, who still commutes 26 miles by bike every day from her home in St Albans into London, will compete in the trans-continental -- a 1,790-mile race from Belgium to Greece.

— chris murphy, CNN, "Is this the world's toughest bike race?," 13 June 2017
Salisbury 7, Hamilton 5: The host Sea Gulls ended the game on a 6-0 run to rally past the Continentals in an NCAA Division III second-round game.

— baltimoresun.com, "Lacrosse roundup (May 14): USC women stun No. 3 seed Florida in second round," 14 May 2017
Waters of the Atlantic continental shelf also support whales, swordfish, bluefin tuna, sea turtles and businesses heavily dependent on the health of the ocean ecosystem, according to the lawsuit.

— Washington Post, "Groups sue to stop Trump from renewing offshore drilling," 3 May 2017

First Known Use of continental

1777

continental Synonyms

Synonyms

beans, bubkes (also bupkes or bupkus), jot, damn, darn (also durn), diddly [slang], diddly-squat [slang], doodley-squat (or doodly-squat), fig, ghost, hoot, iota, lick, modicum, rap, squat [slang], syllable, tittle, whit, whoop

Related Words

ace, bit, crumb, dab, driblet, glimmer, hint, little, mite, nip, ounce, particle, peanuts, pin, ray, scrap, scruple, semblance, shade, shadow, shred, skosh, smidgen (also smidgeon or smidgin or smidge), snap, speck, spot, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, touch, trace

CONTINENTAL Defined for English Language Learners

continental

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adjective

Definition of continental for English Language Learners

: of, relating to, or located on a continent
Continental : of or relating to the countries of Europe except for Great Britain and Ireland
: characteristic of Europe

continental

noun

Definition of continental for English Language Learners

: a person from Continental Europe

CONTINENTAL Defined for Kids

continental

play

adjective con·ti·nen·tal \ ˌkän-tə-ˈnen-tᵊl \

Definition of continental for Students

1 :being the mainland part and not including islands

the continental United States

2 often capitalized :of the colonies later forming the United States

the Continental Army

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continental

Definition of continental

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CONTINENTAL Defined for English Language Learners

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continental

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