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continental United States

American

[kon-tn-en-tl yoo-nahy-tid steyts] / ˌkɒn tnˈɛn tl yuˈnaɪ tɪd ˈsteɪts /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

an official designation for the 49 states, plus the District of Columbia, that are located on the continent of North America, which does not include the state of Hawaii.

Etymology

Origin of continental United States

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

WTI barrels, by contrast, sit in the continental United States and flow through pipelines to Gulf Cost refineries, said Germini, who’s also publisher of the “Energy Pipeline” newsletter on Substack.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026

Plus, a substantial portion of the continental United States is buried under a sheet of ice and snow, conditions that aren’t conducive to travel.

From Slate • Jan. 26, 2026

Winter Storm Fern is forecast to engulf an area well over half the length of the continental United States, stretching from Texas and the Great Plains region to the mid-Atlantic and northeastern states.

From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026

They’re childhood friends of mine, and we were excited to try to bag the tallest mountain in the continental United States.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025

It seems just another fair-sized town in the middle—almost the exact middle—of the continental United States.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023