continental

adjective

con·ti·nen·tal | \ ˌkän-tə-ˈnen-tᵊl

Definition of continental

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : 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

2a 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

continental

noun

Definition of continental (Entry 2 of 2)

1a 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

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Examples of continental in a Sentence

Adjective

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

Noun

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

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Since its inception in 1930, the FIFA World Cup has been in the middle of a continental tug-of-war between the two continents that dominate not just the tournament, but the sport as a whole. — Juan Pimiento, chicagotribune.com, "South America seek an end to its European drought in Russia 2018," 10 June 2018 Real Madrid and Bayern have previous in UEFA's continental club tournament, with the defending champions seeing off the Bavarian giants over two legs en route to lifting the trophy last term. — SI.com, "Zinedine Zidane Claims Real Madrid Won't 'S**t in Our Pants' vs. Bayern Munich," 25 Apr. 2018 The vast majority of U.S. nuclear warheads are stationed in the continental U.S. and are capable of targeting North Korea. — Jonathan Cheng, WSJ, "The U.S. May Have to Rethink Its Approach to North Korea," 22 Jan. 2019 In other years, there was a continental divide at the top that spoke of coming problems. — Dave Hyde, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Hyde: Dolphins did all they wanted this offseason — but will it work? | Commentary," 14 June 2018 Although the cost and logistics are taken care of, including insurance for continental driving, the trans-Atlantic travel can take up to 10 weeks. — Kyle Stock, Bloomberg.com, "For a Swanky Car, Skip the Dealership," 26 Feb. 2018 Availability: Green Chef delivers almost everywhere in the continental United States except Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of Louisiana. 10. — Glamour, "The 11 Best Healthy Food Delivery Services When You Just Can't With Grocery Shopping," 2 Jan. 2019 But supersonic flight over the continental U.S. isn't even legalized yet, so where did all this investor confidence come from? — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "Supersonic Airliners Are About to Take Off. Again.," 7 Jan. 2019 Walter Reed is the nation’s largest military hospital and, according to its website, is among the first stops in the continental United States for troops wounded in combat. — Michael Kunzelman, The Seattle Times, "Navy: Notification error led to Walter Reed shooter report," 27 Nov. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Many of these airlines also have different policies for intra-continental, short-haul flights, which are not included here. — Meredith Carey, Condé Nast Traveler, "International Basic Economy: How Every Major Airline Compares," 5 July 2018 Organizers of the Asian Games—a pan-continental, multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia—have confirmed eSports will be a demonstration event later this year. — Chris Morris, Fortune, "The IOC Is Another Step Closer to Including Video Games in the Olympics," 28 June 2018 Goals, fame and second-tier continental, as well as league success, came to the Brazilian, who became only the second man to break the world transfer record twice, all before his 21st birthday. — SI.com, "World Cup Countdown: 4 Weeks to Go - A Career Overview of Brazil's 2002 World Cup Hero, Ronaldo," 27 May 2018 But the most fun part is spinning the globe itself and watching the unfamiliar continental and oceanic formations of times past. — Erin Blakemore, Washington Post, "Ancient Earth Globe lets you travel back in time for a look at the planet," 24 Mar. 2018 The Confederations Cup is a trophy competed for by the seven current reigning continental or world champions and a host nation, in every odd year following a round of continental tournaments. — SI.com, "FIFA Propose New 'Final 8' World Cup Tournament as Part of the International Football Reform," 2 May 2018 Whatever optimism that remained among American fans was based on a belief that the team’s supposedly better-than-the-continental-competition talent would ultimately prevail. — Eric Betts, Slate Magazine, "Under Bruce Arena, the U.S. men’s national soccer team has transformed from an embarrassment into an aggressive attacking force.," 27 Mar. 2017 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

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.