| 释义 |
continental, a. (and n.)|kɒntɪˈnɛntəl|
[f. prec. + -al1: so in mod.F.]
A. adj.
1. a. Belonging to, characteristic of, or of the nature of a continent or mainland.
1818B. O'Reilly Greenland 17 To the northward, where the continental ice was evidently interminable. 1849Grote Greece ii. lx. (1862) V. 279 Greeks continental and insular. 1878Huxley Physiogr. xviii. 307 Such streams [Volga, Jordan, etc.] are often called continental rivers, since.. their basins are contained within the land.
b. Phys. Geog. Of climate: see quot. 1880.
1865Petermann in Reader 1 Apr. 374/2 The climate at the south was marine, and consequently moist; at the north it was continental, and consequently dry. 1880Geikie Phys. Geog. v. 351 A continental climate is one where the summer is hot, the winter cold, and where the rainfall is comparatively slight.
c. Geol. Designating, or pertaining to, deposits laid down on land masses (as distinct from marine deposits).
1934Webster, Continental deposit, a terrestrial deposit. 1946L. D. Stamp Britain's Struct. & Scenery xii. 142 Wedges of continental (fluviatile, deltaic or estuarine) strata.
d. In special collocations: continental divide, a divide separating two river systems of a continent; spec. the divide in North America separating rivers flowing into the Atlantic from those flowing into the Pacific; continental drift, the postulated movement of the existing continents to their present positions after having originally formed a single land-mass; continental glacier, a sheet of ice which covers a large part of a continent; continental island, an island close to and geologically related to a continent; continental plateau or continental platform, the part of the earth's crust above the level of the ocean basins, comprising the continents and the continental shelves; also occas. = continental shelf; continental rise, the gently inclined slope between the foot of the continental slope and the ocean bed; continental shelf (see shelf n.1 5 b); continental slope, the slope between the outer edge of the continental shelf and the ocean bed; continental terrace, the continental shelf and continental slope considered together.
1869W. J. Palmer Surv. across Continent 171 The great *Continental Divide at Arkansas Pass. 1889Trans. R. Soc. Canada VII. 130 They..reached the continental ‘divide’ on February 25th. 1890[see divide n. 2]. 1957G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. i. 65 On the eastern side of the Continental Divide in Colorado.
1926J. W. Gregory in Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1925 316 The increasing evidence of the mobility of the earth's crust has prepared the way for a sympathetic reception of Wegener's theory of *continental drift. 1936Discovery Mar. 67/1 The earth's land surfaces constitute an enormous disjointed jigsaw puzzle, the interlocking or fitting portions of which have floated away from one another. This conspicuous feature of the world's outer mantle is known popularly as ‘Continental Drift’.
1897I. C. Russell Glaciers of N. Amer. i. 3 The principal characteristics of *continental glaciers are their vast extent, their comparatively level surfaces, and the prolongation..of their borders into lobes and..streams. 1910Encycl. Brit. XII. 60/2 Between these ‘polar’ or ‘continental glaciers’ and the ‘alpine’ type there are many grades.
1895Dana Man. Geol. (ed. 4) i. 22 The islands adjoining the continents are properly *continental islands.
1898J. Geikie Earth Sculpture xv. 262 When we consider the surface of the earth's crust as a whole we recognize two great areas, an oceanic depressed region and a continental elevated region, or, shortly, an oceanic basin and a *continental plateau.
1899Geogr. Jrnl. XIII. 286 British and *Continental Platform, a gently shelving platform stretching seawards to varying distances from 20 to 200 miles, terminating in a declivity or escarpment at depths (according to distance from land) varying from 100 to 200 fathoms. 1907R. D. Salisbury Physiography i. 11 The continental platforms are much more nearly continuous than the continental lands.
1959B. C. Heezen et al. in Spec. Papers Geol. Soc. Amer. No. 65. ii. 19 Since we have limited the continental slope to gradients greater than 1:40, we split off this lower portion of the continental margin into a separate province, the *continental rise. 1963D. W. & E. E. Humphries tr. Termier's Erosion & Sedimentation iii. 47 The continental rise although it descends to 16,000 feet has a gentler inclination than the continental slope. 1970D. A. Ross Introd. Oceanogr. viii. 273 Many continental slopes end in a gently inclining, broad topographic feature called the continental rise. 1984A. C. & A. Duxbury Introd. World's Oceans ii. 41 Few continental rises occur in the Pacific Ocean.
1907R. D. Salisbury Physiography 761/1 *Continental slopes.
1942R. A. Daly Floor of Ocean i. 10 The continental shelf..and slope together make the composite surface of a great three-dimensional bench which is conveniently named the *continental terrace. 1955Sci. Amer. Mar. 82/1 This underwater borderland between continent and ocean, called the continental terrace, is a shelf of varying width—from a few tens of miles to as much as 300 or 400 miles off some coasts. At its seaward edge it pitches steeply into the deep ocean basin.
2. spec. Of, on, or belonging to ‘the Continent’, i.e. the mainland of Europe, as distinguished from the British Isles. Continental breakfast, a light breakfast such as is eaten on the Continent, esp. in France; continental quilt = duvet 1; Continental Sunday, Sunday observed more as a day of public entertainment (as held to be customary on the continent of Europe) than as a day of rest and religious observance (as in Great Britain); Continental System (Hist.), the plan of Napoleon Bonaparte for cutting off Great Britain from all connexion, political, commercial, and personal, with the continent of Europe; instituted by the Berlin Decree of 19th November, 1806, which declared the British Islands in a state of blockade, forbad all commerce with them, ordered the arrest of all British subjects on the continent, etc.
1760Life & Adv. of Cat 37, I then ventured upon the continental gentlemen. 1793Ld. Auckland Corr. III. 55 The other continental powers. 1829Lytton Disowned vi, That continental tour, deemed then so necessary a part of education. 1839–57Alison Hist. Europe VII. xlii. §43. 125 The Continental System, based on the project of totally excluding British goods and manufactures from all the European monarchies. 1856Sat. Rev. 4 Oct. 503/2 To tell a man that he is in favour of a Continental, or of a French Sunday, is a reproach which is sure to carry great weight. 1860C. M. Yonge Hopes & Fears I. ii. xii. 454 She was glad to have done with Continental Sundays that had left her feeling good for nothing all the week. 1875Jevons Money (1878) 86 Other writers, both continental and English. 1911R. Brooke Let. 12 Apr. (1968) 296 You'll have to give me breakfast—a purely Continental one, I assure you, no eggs. 1932A. Christie Peril at End House vi. 74 Poirot clung firmly to the Continental breakfast... Consequently he breakfasted in bed upon coffee and rolls. 1964Wodehouse Frozen Assets ii. 42, I am not bursting. I am making a light Continental breakfast. 1966Guardian 29 Mar. 10/2 The Continental Sunday points the way. To church, to the polling station, and to football. 1969House & Garden Feb. 15/2 (Advt.), A Slumberdown is a continental down-filled, light-as-air, toasty-warm quilt. 1970,1971[see duvet 1]. 1982S. Townsend Secret Diary A. Mole 64 Black walls and a white carpet and a racing car continental quilt.
3. a. Amer. Hist. Of or belonging to the colonies or States collectively (during and immediately after the War of Independence; cf. continent n. 6); as in Continental Congress (see congress 7), continental army, continental debt, continental money, continental soldiers, etc.
1775Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) I. 48 The colonies are willing to assent to a Continental Congress. 1775Jrnls. U.S. Cont. Congress II. 207 That each gentleman who signs the continental money, be..paid out of the continental treasury. 1776in Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll. XXI. 449 Continental Money will not pass in N. York. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 321 Pennsylvania..assuming her supposed proportion of the continental debt. 1865H. Phillips Amer. Paper Curr. II. Pref. 5 The Bills of Credit issued by Congress, usually known as Continental Money. 1876Bancroft Hist. U.S. VI. xlii. 253 The continental regiments of North Carolina.
b. Used as a depreciatory epithet (orig. with reference to currency). (Cf. sense B. 2 b below.) U.S. colloq.
1841W. G. Simms Kinsmen I. viii. 98, I wouldn't give a continental copper for the safety of your skin. 1851Knickerbocker XXXVII. 554 That clock you sold me ain't worth a continental cuss. 1890Amer. N. & Q. V. 169 ‘A Tinker's Dam’ is equivalent to the expression, ‘A Continental Damn’.
B. n.
1. An inhabitant of a continent; spec. of the continent of Europe.
1828Landor Wks. (1868) I. 349 This language is not yours, is not an Italian's, is not a continental's. 1832tr. Tour Germ. Prince III. v. 124 An article in a newspaper after which a Continental would not show himself for three months. 1875Merivale Gen. Hist. Rome xviii. (1877) 103 They laid stress upon their common blood as Italians, and their common interests as continentals.
2. Amer. Hist.
a. A regular soldier of the Continental army in the War of Independence.
b. A currency note issued by the Continental Congress during the war; the depreciation of which afterwards gave rise to the phrases not worth a continental and not to care (or give) a continental. orig. U.S.
c. pl. ‘The uniform of the Continental troops during the War of the Revolution’ (Farmer Americanisms). Cf. regimentals.
1777in Maryland Hist. Mag. V. 210 Perhaps it would be in your Excellency's power to spare 3 or 400 Continentals. 1786Freneau Poems 323 That damnable bubble the old Continental That took people in at this wonderful crisis. 1822J. F. Cooper Spy xvi, If it's silver or goold..it's but little I have, though I've a trifling bit of the continental. 1847L. Sabine Amer. Loyalists 30 note, The number of regulars, or of continentals, was derived by him from the official returns deposited in the war office. 1872Mark Twain Innoc. at Home 20 (Farmer) He didn't give a continental for anybody. 1874B. F. Taylor World on Wheels ii. 203 He did not care a ‘Continental’ for the whole business. 1876Bancroft Hist. U.S. VI. xlii. 253 These brave volunteers, who were supported by but nine continentals..fought for their homes. 1882G. W. Peck Sunshine 180 The next day he is all played out and not worth a continental. 1887Scribn. Mag. (Farmer), The Yankee, who contemplates his grandfather in continentals above the chimney-piece. 1907Daily Chron. 5 Nov. 6/6 The ‘New York American’..incidentally isn't caring a continental what London thinks. 1927S. Williams Drury Club Case vii. 137 I'm not concerned for Hal. I don't care a continental what happens to him. 1931J. T. Adams Epic of Amer. iv. 98 The phrase ‘not worth a Continental’ was so impressed upon the people that, unlike the money to which it referred, it gained a lasting circulation. 1968G. de Fraga Murder at Cookout xxv. 130 It was murder, m'boy! And I don't give a continental which of them did it.
Hence contiˈnental v. nonce-wd. = continentalize 1.
1865G. Meredith R. Fleming xxv. (1889) 218 Mr. Edward was Continentalling.
Add:[A.] [2.] Continental day, a school day extending from early morning to early afternoon, as is customary in many countries of mainland Europe.
[1981Times Educ. Suppl. 10 Apr. 3/1 A plan for a continental-style day in an East Sussex school, ending with lunch at 1.30 pm, has run into legal difficulties. ] Ibid. 3 July 6 (heading) *Continental day dawns.1984Education 2 Mar. 184/1 The so-called Continental Day..a gruelling Teutonic affair, starting 8 o'clock, breaking mid-morning for würst, and finishing at about 2 p.m.... I'm not aware of any English school which operates the Continental Day in its pure lunchless form. 1986Times 13 June 13/1 Called variously the ‘Continental’, the compressed or the shortened day, the new schedule is being adopted by increasing numbers of schools.
Continental roast n. and a., (designating) dark-roasted coffee beans producing coffee with a Continental flavour, or the coffee itself.
1958Catal. County Stores, Taunton June 29 Coffee..*Continental Roast—a lb. 7/6. 1962L. Deighton Ipcress File xxvii. 172 ‘You're up,’ said Charlie, coming into the living-room with a big white coffee-pot. ‘Continental roast. O.K.?’ 1985S. Rees Devil's Looking-Glass xvii. 138 Strong black coffee, continental-roast. |