intercontinental
Americanadjective
-
between or among continents; involving two or more continents.
intercontinental trade.
-
traveling or capable of traveling between continents.
intercontinental airplanes.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of intercontinental
First recorded in 1850–55; inter- + 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.
In September 2024, China carried out its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in decades, launching a dummy warhead from Hainan island in southern China into waters near French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
China's capacity to strike Australia would grow over the next decade as "the DF-27 intermediate-range ballistic missile, and potentially a conventionally armed intercontinental ballistic missile, grow in service numbers", it said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 14, 2026
National Laboratories and NASA, and in the deployment of space-based interceptors, intercontinental ballistic missiles and other spacecraft.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
The Democratic Republic of Congo qualified for their first World Cup in 52 years by beating Jamaica in their intercontinental play-off final, with an extra-time goal from Axel Tuanzebe sealing the win.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
How is it that we now have intercontinental missiles with nuclear warheads, whereas 30,000 years ago we had only sticks with flint spearheads?
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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.
