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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

It also helps researchers refine geological models of an area shaped by repeated episodes of ocean closure and continental collision.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

Whitney is the tallest mountain in the continental United States.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

From there it would be sold on the international market and, most likely, taken to continental Europe for refining.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

First of all, Alaska is a full 900 time zones behind the continental United States, so its counting won’t be done until late.

From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2026

Saw a map of the continental United States.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

Named the Azerbaijan Continental Magmatic Arc, the system formed during the Late Cretaceous period in a region that is now part of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

The Azerbaijan Continental Magmatic Arc offers new evidence for understanding the Late Cretaceous evolution of northwestern Iran and the larger Neo-Tethyan region.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

American Samoa banned deep-sea mining in its territorial waters in 2024, but the auction concerns the federally controlled Outer Continental Shelf beyond that limit.

From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026

Continental Shelf and will materially enhance its medium-term production outlook while supporting cash flow and dividend growth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

The Declaration was still regarded as a product of the whole Continental Congress, not the work of one man, and had yet to achieve the symbolic significance it would in the nineteenth century.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

"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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