A continuous process or event continues for a period of time without stopping.
Residents report that they heard continuous gunfire.
...all employees who had a record of five years' continuous employment with the firm.
There is a continuous stream of phone calls.
Synonyms: constant, continued, extended, prolonged More Synonyms of continuous
continuouslyadverb [usually ADVERB with verb]
The civil war has raged almost continuously for ten years.
It is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in America.
2. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
A continuous line or surface has no gaps or holes in it.
...a continuous line of boats.
...the continuous frieze of sculpted figures.
3. adjective
In English grammar, continuous verb groups are formed using the auxiliary 'be' and the present participle of a verb, as in 'I'm feeling a bit tired' and 'She had been watching them for some time'. Continuous verb groups are used especially when you are focusing on a particular moment. Compare simple.
continual
English Easy Learning GrammarThe past continuous tenseTypical forms of this tense are as shown in: I was winning. but not I was liking it. She was winning. They were winning. Was I winning? Was she ... Read more
English Easy Learning GrammarThe present perfect continuous tenseTypical forms of this tense are as shown in: I have been waiting. I’ve been waiting. She has been waiting. She’s been waiting. Have I been snoring? Has ... Read more
English Easy Learning GrammarAspectWhen we use a verb, we often need to be able to refer to more than the time at whichan event took place. We sometimes need to be able to refer to actions ... Read more
continuous in British English
(kənˈtɪnjʊəs)
adjective
1.
prolonged without interruption; unceasing
a continuous noise
2.
in an unbroken series or pattern
3. mathematics
(of a function or curve) changing gradually in value as the variable changes in value. A function f is continuous if at every value a of the independent variable the difference between f(x) and f(a) approaches zero as x approaches a
Compare discontinuous (sense 2), See also limit (sense 5)
4. statistics
(of a variable) having a continuum of possible values so that its distribution requires integration rather than summation to determine its cumulative probability
Compare discrete (sense 3)
5. grammar another word for progressive (sense 8)
▶ USAGE Both continual and continuous can be used to say that something continues without interruption, but only continual can correctly be used to say that something keeps happening repeatedly
Derived forms
continuously (conˈtinuously)
adverb
continuousness (conˈtinuousness)
noun
Word origin
C17: from Latin continuus, from continēre to hold together, contain
continuous in American English
(kənˈtɪnjuəs)
adjective
1.
going on or extending without interruption or break; unbroken; connected
2. Ancient Mathematics
designating a function whose value at each point is closely approached by its values at neighboringpoints
SIMILAR WORDS: conˈtinual
Derived forms
continuously (conˈtinuously)
adverb
Word origin
L continuus: see continue
Examples of 'continuous' in a sentence
continuous
This time the continuous oily stream covers the body and is followed by a massage.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Great sports teams are built upon a culture of continuous improvement.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The survivor can hear continuous loud noises from the north.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
What part of the process requires continuous control?
Peter F. Drucker MANAGEMENT: task, responsibilities, practices (1974)
What is really needed are the operational management skills to implement effective continuous improvement programmes.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The hero grows from childhood to old age in a continuous present.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Exposure to continuous high volume noise can stop the hair cells working properly.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It is thus necessary to train a continuous stream of new men.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
They saw the screenplay as a continuous process.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
People should look at it from season to season and we want to see continuous improvement.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The dubious magic of the present continuous is no substitute for a close attention to the past.
The Times Literary Supplement (2011)
Are you exposed to very loud and continuous noise at your home or work?
Martlew, Gillian & Silver, Shelley Stay Well This Winter (1989)
Follow his feed and you find a continuous stream of absurdities.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
But it is a continuous education process.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Leaders in service excellence train their people to drive continuous improvement.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
There are parallels in local government where in the past half century there has been almost continuous revolution.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The continuous improvement in productive efficiency which it promotes leads to growing technological unemployment as existing jobs become redundant.
The Times Literary Supplement (2012)
It shows part of the rescue against a backdrop of almost continuous gunfire and flames rising from parts of the prison.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
They exist in a continuous present.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
You will also be unable to claim if you were not in continuous employment for at least six months before being made redundant.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
They used a loudspeaker to play a continuous noise at a similar frequency to the clicks and found the plants grew towards it.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
If one stayed at home after dinner, there was a continuous stream of visitors.
Kishlansky, Mark A. (editor) Sources of the West: Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 1: From the Beginningto 1715 (1995)
Line managers control their own information needs, so performance management is now a continuous process.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
For example, you gain the right not to be unfairly dismissed after being in continuous employment for two years.
The Sun (2015)
As it is we have jointly clocked up more than 100 years of continuous employment ina highly competitive industry.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
In other languages
continuous
British English: continuous /kənˈtɪnjʊəs/ ADJECTIVE
A continuous process or event continues for a period of time without stopping.
...a continuous stream of phone calls.
American English: continuous
Arabic: مُسْتَمِرّ
Brazilian Portuguese: contínuo
Chinese: 连续的
Croatian: trajan
Czech: nepřetržitý
Danish: fortsat
Dutch: ononderbroken
European Spanish: ininterrumpido
Finnish: jatkuva
French: continu
German: andauernd
Greek: αδιάκοπος
Italian: continuo
Japanese: 連続的な
Korean: 연속적인
Norwegian: sammenhengende
Polish: ciągły
European Portuguese: contínuo
Romanian: continuu
Russian: продолжительный
Latin American Spanish: ininterrumpido
Swedish: oavbruten
Thai: ซึ่งต่อเนื่องกัน
Turkish: kesintisiz
Ukrainian: безперервний
Vietnamese: liên tục
All related terms of 'continuous'
continuous wave
an electromagnetic wave , esp. a radio wave, with a constant amplitude and frequency
continuous miner
a person who works in a mine
continuous process
A continuous process is a process in which the product comes out without interruption and not in groups.
continuous-release
denoting a formulation of a medicinal drug taken orally that releases the active ingredients over several hours , in order to maintain a relatively constant plasma concentration of the drug
continuous waves
radio waves generated as a continuous train of oscillations having a constant frequency and amplitude
present continuous
See present progressive
continuous assessment
If pupils or students undergo continuous assessment , they get qualifications partly or entirely based on the work they do during the year, rather than on exam results.
continuous creation
the theory that matter is being created continuously in the universe
continuous function
a mathematical function such that a small change in the independent variable , or point of the domain , produces only a small change in the value of the function
continuous improvement
If there is an improvement in something, it becomes better . If you make improvements to something, you make it better.
continuous processing
the systems in a plant or factory for the manufacturing of products, treating of materials, etc, that have been designed to run continuously and are often computer-controlled
continuous spectrum
a spectrum that contains or appears to contain all wavelengths but not spectrum lines over a wide portion of its range . The emission spectrum of incandescent solids is continuous ; bremsstrahlung spectra consisting of a large number of lines may appear continuous
continuous stationery
paper that is perforated between pages and folded concertina fashion , used in dot-matrix, line, and daisywheel printers
continuous pipeline operation
Continuous pipeline operation is technology for valves and corrosion protection to allow fluids to flow through pipes without interruption .
past progressive
a verb form consisting of an auxiliary be in the past tense followed by a present participle and used esp. to indicate that an action or event was incomplete or in progress at a point of reference in the past, as was sleeping in I was sleeping when the phone rang
perfect progressive
a verb form including the auxiliary have followed by been and a present participle , noting the continuation of an activity or event, its incompleteness or interruption , and its connection to the temporal point of reference , as in I've been waiting for over an hour , They had been talking about her before she came into the room , or In July , he will have been living here for two years
miner
A miner is a person who works underground in mines in order to obtain minerals such as coal, diamonds , or gold .