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Synonyms

continue

American

[kuhn-tin-yoo] / kənˈtɪn ju /

verb (used without object)

to go on after suspension or interruption.

The program continued after an intermission.
to go on or keep on, as in some course or action; extend.

The road continues for three miles.

Antonyms:

cease
to last or endure.

The strike continued for two months.
to remain in a particular state or capacity.

The general agreed to continue in command of the army.
to remain in a place; abide; stay.

Let us continue in this house forever.

verb (used with object)

to go on with or persist in.

to continue an action.
to carry on from the point of suspension or interruption.

He continued the concert after the latecomers were seated.
to extend from one point to another in space; prolong.
to say in continuation.
to cause to last or endure; maintain or retain, as in a position.
to carry over, postpone, or adjourn; keep pending, as a legal proceeding.

continue British

/ kənˈtɪnjuː /

verb

(when tr, may take an infinitive) to remain or cause to remain in a particular condition, capacity, or place
(when tr, may take an infinitive) to carry on uninterruptedly (a course of action); persist in (something)

he continued running
(when tr, may take an infinitive) to resume after an interruption

we'll continue after lunch
to draw out or be drawn out; prolong or be prolonged

continue the chord until it meets the tangent
(tr) law to postpone or adjourn (legal proceedings)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

Where does continue come from? Continue entered English around 1300–50. Coming into English through French, continue ultimately comes from the Latin continuāre, meaning “to make all one, join together, connect.” This verb could also mean, much like its English derivative, “to carry on, draw out, prolong, last”—that is, to continue. The Latin verb continuāre is formed from the adjective continuus. Does continuus look familiar? It’s the direct source of the English continuous, meaning “uninterrupted in time; without cessation” or “being in immediate connection or spatial relationship.”The Latin adjective continuus meant “uninterrupted, unbroken, continuous.” That’s right: continuus meant, well, continuous. Sometimes, there is a great a deal of continuity in word development. But we’re not done yet. The Latin continuus is itself ultimately based on another verb, continēre, “to hold or keep together.” So, something that continues—that is, it goes on, keeps on, or endures in some way—stays all held together, in an etymological manner of speaking. Dig deeperWe noted above that continue is ultimately connected to continēre, “to hold together.” Continēre is the source of some other familiar English words, including contain, continent, and content. Does knowing that all these words come from a verb meaning “to hold together” give you any deeper insights into these words?For all this talk of holding things together, we can, er, continue breaking apart the roots of the Latin verb continēre. It is composed of con-, a productive prefix with the sense of “with, together,” and tenēre, “to hold.”Derivations of tenēre appears in a great many English words, including detain, detention, entertain, tenacious, tenant, tenet, retain, retention, sustain, and sustenance. But don’t be fooled. While detain is related to detention and retain to retention, contain is not related to contention, or “strife, contest, controversy.” Contention is derived from the same Latin root that gives English contend.

Synonym Usage

Continue, endure, persist, persevere, last, remain imply existing uninterruptedly for an appreciable length of time. Continue implies duration or existence without break or interruption. Endure, used of people or things, implies persistent continuance against influences that tend to weaken, undermine, or destroy. Persist and persevere, used principally of people, both imply firm and steadfast continuance in the face of opposition. Persist suggests human opposition: He persisted after he had been warned; and persevere suggests opposition from any source, often an impersonal one: He persevered despite fatigue. Last often applies to something that holds out to a desired end, fresh, unimpaired, or unexhausted, sometimes under conditions that tend to produce the opposite effect: They had provisions enough to last all winter. Remain is especially applied to what continues without change in its essential state: He remained a bachelor.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of continue

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin continuāre “to make all one,” verbal derivative of continuus continuous

Explanation

To continue an activity is to keep it going, either with or without interruption. If you ask the newspaper to continue delivering your paper while you are on vacation, you want to receive all the news while you’re away. The verb continue is related to the word continuous, from the Latin word continuare, meaning “join together” or “connect.” When anything goes on without a break, like the middle school variety show, it continues, uninterrupted. You can also continue something that was paused or set aside. You could, for instance, continue watching the movie that you paused when the pizza was delivered and then continue to drive your parents crazy by texting your friends while watching the movie with them.

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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.

See Examples For:

continue continues continued continuing

The board added it “strongly disagrees” with the measures taken by Panama and will continue to seek resolution with the country while pursuing its rights under the treaty and international law.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

"We need to keep pace with a rapidly evolving market and continue to take action to protect children from nicotine products."

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

Yet maternal age effects continue to appear across an extraordinary range of species.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

Like actual religion, to continue on versus stopping becomes a question of faith.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

In a world that made sense, I’d be able to watch her grow and continue to give her my clothes when they got too small for me.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

Authorities say as the reservoir continues to dry up, there’s a higher probability that more skeletal remains will be discovered.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

If the heatwave continues, third and fourth-quarter GDP forecasts could get downgrades of between 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points, he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

Ethiopia also continues to grapple with armed insurgencies in Oromia and Amhara, the country's two most-populous regional states.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Actually, the U.S. government continues to grow its debt at an extraordinary pace.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

“Nothing,” Mom says, and continues scraping, but I see her steal a smile on the sly.

From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz

Robinson's spell, his fifth five-for in Test cricket, continued a successful return to the England team since he was recalled at the beginning of the summer.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Policymakers noted that economic activity had continued to expand at a "solid pace," but noted that business investment was concentrated in AI industry expenditures.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Income and corporate tax rates across the globe have continued their decline since the 1980s, though at a slower pace in recent decades.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

After leaving ESPN, Rasmussen continued to serve as a consultant to sports rights holders and media companies and also maintained his own start-up ventures in sports.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Leah hired nurses, supervised her household servants, and continued to schedule séances for New Yorkers willing to pay for the privilege of seeing an original Fox sister.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

The president and his allies have also highlighted the difficulty of safely organizing such a vote amid continuing hostilities and said a ceasefire would be necessary to facilitate it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

The RAIB, which is continuing to investigate the derailment, said it had received "several reports of rough riding at the location of the derailment from passengers on other trains".

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

He added that once Arday had resigned, "What's the public interest in continuing to berate him?"

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

If you’re going to end up in Florida, then you might want to consider buying into a community that will adapt to your needs, like a continuing care retirement community.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

But for now, he wondered if this was where he would part company with Handsome or whether he could coax the musk ox into continuing on as one half of their exploring team.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023