continental
Americanadjective
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of or of the nature of a continent.
-
(usually initial capital letter) of or relating to the mainland of Europe, to Europeans, or to European customs and attitudes.
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(initial capital letter) of or relating to the 13 original American colonies during and immediately after the American Revolution.
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of or relating to the continent of North America.
noun
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(initial capital letter) a soldier of the Continental Army in the American Revolution.
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a piece of paper currency issued by the Continental Congress during the American Revolution.
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a small amount.
advice that's not worth a continental.
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an inhabitant of a continent.
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(usually initial capital letter) an inhabitant of the mainland of Europe.
adjective
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of or characteristic of Europe, excluding the British Isles
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of or relating to the 13 original British North American colonies during and immediately after the War of American Independence
noun
-
(sometimes not capital) an inhabitant of Europe, excluding the British Isles
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a regular soldier of the rebel army during the War of American Independence
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history a currency note issued by the Continental Congress
Other Word Forms
- Continentalism noun
- Continentalist noun
- continentally adverb
- noncontinental adjective
- precontinental adjective
Etymology
Origin of continental
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.
Our continental spread allowed people to “light out for the territory,” in Mark Twain’s phrase, to shed one identity and assume another — a cowboy, maybe, or a con-man.
From Los Angeles Times
The findings, published Feb. 5 in Science, show that continental mantle earthquakes happen across the globe but tend to cluster in specific regions.
From Science Daily
One of the northernmost towns in the world, located halfway between continental Norway and the North Pole, Longyearbyen is home to 2,500 people.
From Barron's
Also, as Brexit took away some of the advantages of importing food from continental Europe, Senegal became increasingly more appealing.
From BBC
The same pattern was observed in Alaska's urban regions, which resemble small and medium sized cities in the continental US.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
