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

In the soggy Eagle Marsh, the continental divide rises to a high point along a berm in Fort Wayne, stretching for 9,000 feet. — Joseph Dits, Post-Tribune, "Fort Wayne builds berm to keep Asian carp out of Great Lakes," 3 July 2018 Wehner, who is involved in the effort, is also coordinating a larger European project, called the Quantum Internet Alliance, which aims to expand the Dutch experiment to a continental scale. — Davide Castelvecchi, Scientific American, "The Quantum Internet Has Arrived (and It Hasn’t)," 16 Feb. 2018 The scope of the storm’s fury became clearer after nearly a week of missing-persons reports and desperate searches of the Florida Panhandle neighborhoods devastated by the most powerful hurricane to hit the continental U.S. in nearly 50 years. — Jay Reeves, The Seattle Times, "Scope of Michael’s fury becomes clearer in Florida Panhandle," 16 Oct. 2018 After years of contentious negotiations, the country’s king of renewable energy has agreed to fully link its Texas-only electric infrastructure to the rest of the country: For the first time, the continental U.S. will have one unified power grid. — Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, "The World of 2045," 14 Oct. 2018 But these are small prices to pay for the book’s scope, from the arrival of Romanies in Britain in the late 15th century (from Rajasthan in north-west India, via continental Europe) to their modern customs. — The Economist, "A British traveller’s travelogue," 12 July 2018 Airbus makes components in Britain, including the wing assemblies for many of its biggest jets, but most of its manufacturing is in continental Europe. — Robert Wall, WSJ, "Airbus Chides Boeing Amid New Rivalry for Smaller Jets," 6 July 2018 Backing for repeal was highest among young voters, including many who returned from jobs or universities in continental Europe to vote, but was also high among every age group except those 65 or older. — Gregory Katz, The Seattle Times, "Some Irish Catholics worried, dismayed after abortion vote," 27 May 2018 In 1979, alongside Antonio Garrido, Ballesteros became one of the first two players from continental Europe to play in the match. — Ben Simister And Tom Mcgowan, CNN, "Seve Ballesteros: The Spanish master of Augusta," 6 Apr. 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.