continuous
Often confused with continual
- 1Going on and on without stopping or breaking.
Like a clock that ticks on and on without ever stopping.
The machine made a continuous humming sound throughout the night.
We heard continuous rain for three days straight.
Similarnonstop, ongoing, incessant, perpetual
Oppositeintermittent, interrupted, broken, discontinuous
Note
- 2Joined together in one piece, with no gaps or empty spaces.
Like a chain of links that all touch, with no gaps between them.
The fence forms one continuous line around the whole yard.
A continuous strip of carpet ran down the long hallway.
Similarunbroken, connected, continued, extended, protracted
Oppositebroken, disconnected, disjoint
Note
- 3In grammar, describing a verb form that shows an action is still going on.
Like the difference between 'I eat' and 'I am eating': the second shows it is happening right now.
English uses a continuous tense to show that something is happening now.
The continuous form of a verb usually ends in '-ing'.
Similarprogressive
Note
- 4In biology, smooth and even all over, with no breaks or joints.
Like a smooth pebble with no cracks or edges anywhere on it.
The leaf had a continuous edge with no notches or teeth.
Under the microscope, the stem surface looked smooth and continuous.
Similarunbroken, entire, unsegmented
Oppositediscontinuous, segmented, jointed
Note
- 5In math, describing a line or function with no sudden jumps or breaks.
Like a smooth road with no potholes: you can travel it without ever jumping.
A continuous line on the graph never jumps from one spot to another.
The function is continuous, so you can draw it without lifting your pen.
Oppositediscontinuous
Note
- 6In math, describing a function that does not break or tear a shape apart.
Like bending clay into new shapes without ever tearing it.
Stretching a rubber sheet is continuous, but tearing it is not.
A continuous map can bend a shape but never break it.
Oppositediscontinuous
Note
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of continuous apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
From Latin continuus, from a verb meaning "hold together."