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• continental
  continental

  adjective

  of or of the nature of a continent.
• Continental
  Continental

  adjective

  of or characteristic of Europe, excluding the British Isles

continental

American  

[kon-tn-en-tl] / ˌkɒn tnˈɛn tl /

adjective

1. of or of the nature of a continent.

2. (usually initial capital letter) of or relating to the mainland of Europe, to Europeans, or to European customs and attitudes.

3. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the 13 original American colonies during and immediately after the American Revolution.

4. of or relating to the continent of North America.

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noun

• continentals
  plural

1. (initial capital letter) a soldier of the Continental Army in the American Revolution.

2. a piece of paper currency issued by the Continental Congress during the American Revolution.

3. a small amount.

   advice that's not worth a continental.

4. an inhabitant of a continent.

5. (usually initial capital letter) an inhabitant of the mainland of Europe.

Continental British  

/ ˌkɒntɪˈnɛntəl /

adjective

1. of or characteristic of Europe, excluding the British Isles

2. of or relating to the 13 original British North American colonies during and immediately after the War of American Independence

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noun

1. (sometimes not capital) an inhabitant of Europe, excluding the British Isles

2. a regular soldier of the rebel army during the War of American Independence

3. history a currency note issued by the Continental Congress

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Continentalism
  noun
• Continentalist
  noun
• noncontinental
  adjective
• precontinental
  adjective
• continentally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• continentals
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of continental

First recorded in 1750–60; continent + -al ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

continental Continental continentals

The former Deutsche Bank trader was accused of manipulating the Euro Interbank Offered Rate, Libor’s continental cousin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

In fact, Ireland became the first European nation to guarantee religious freedom to Jewish people in 1937, when the continental current was, shall we say, running in a different direction.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

The same set of players, with a few additions and omissions, had already impressed at continental level.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

"To our knowledge, this is the first confirmed record of a living mesophotic coral ecosystem on the Gulf of Guinea continental shelf," said Zinzindohoué.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

She gives us a key and property map and tells us about the complimentary continental breakfast buffet.

From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon

“The transaction delivers on our clear stated growth strategy as we seek to diversify and grow our production and resource base and replicate our success in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf through disciplined international expansion.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Find insight on Continental, Ferrari, BMW and more in the latest Market Talks covering Auto and Transport.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Researchers plan to analyze samples collected through the GOE-DEEP project, co-funded by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

Continental said the field it plans to explore sits north of Venezuela’s Orinoco River in the state of Anzoátegui, encompassing 126,000 acres with an estimated 30 billion barrels of oil resources buried underground.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

Not in a city occupied by the Continental army.

From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson

"If you don't do this and let the continentals get ahead, then they will start to undermine the cement ... which is clearing, settlement and transactions," Hodson said.

From Reuters ● Sep. 2, 2021

Britain used to be seen by continentals as quirky and occasionally awkward - but reliably pragmatic on the economy.

From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2017

Even among continentals, the post-Brexit fall of the pound seems to have compensated for whatever affront they may have taken.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 15, 2016

A complaint many continentals and Britons north of Oxford often make of those in between.

From Economist ● Oct. 19, 2012

The prejudice that islanders are supposed to learn from superior continentals wasn’t the sole reason why record-breaking Japanese pottery caused such a shock.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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