- [countable] one of the large land masses of the earth such as Europe, Asia or Africa
- the continent of Africa
- the African continent
- The police investigation spanned three continents.
- across a continent They trekked 1 500 miles across the Australian continent in 1931.
- on a continent the strongest earthquake ever recorded on the North American continent
Extra ExamplesTopics Geographya2- He crossed a whole continent to find his family.
- She journeyed across continents in her quest for adventure.
- The evidence that the continents have drifted is overwhelming.
- Wolves are still found on the continent of Europe.
- the first railway to cross the North American continent
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- African
- Australian
- North American
- …
- cross
- cover
- span
- …
- drift
- move
- across a/the continent
- on the continent
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- the Continent[singular] (British English, old-fashioned) the main part of the continent of Europe, not including Britain or Ireland
- on the Continent They planned to spend the summer on the Continent.
Word Originmid 16th cent. (denoting a continuous tract of land): from Latin terra continens ‘continuous land’.
Check pronunciation:
continent