adjective
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touching along the side or boundary; in contact
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physically adjacent; neighbouring
-
preceding or following in time
Other Word Forms
- contiguity noun
- contiguously adverb
- contiguousness noun
- noncontiguous adjective
- noncontiguously adverb
- noncontiguousness noun
- uncontiguous adjective
- uncontiguously adverb
- uncontiguousness noun
Etymology
Origin of contiguous
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin contiguus “touching, bordering upon,“ equivalent to prefix con- “with, together” + tig- (variant stem of -tingere, combining form of tangere “to touch”) + -uus adjective suffix; con-, tangent, contingent, contact; -ous, continuous
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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.
SpaceX’s Nicholls said that his company plans to launch its direct-to-cell capable satellites in mid-2027 and can put up a constellation capable of “global and contiguous coverage” within six months.
From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026
The stripe-tailed mammals, also nicknamed "backyard bandits", are widespread across the contiguous US.
From BBC • Nov. 20, 2025
The geographic center of the contiguous U.S. is Lebanon, Kan. Only one regional bank, the San Francisco Fed, is west of that point.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 2, 2025
But European settlers viewed them as a mortal threat to people and livestock and hunted them to near extinction, reducing their number to less than 1,000 in the contiguous U.S.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2025
The gymnasium was contiguous to the east wing of the school, and a grassless football field with cracked baked mud harrowed by cleats formed the far boundary of the campus to the north.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
