continent: Meaning and Definition of

con•ti•nent

Pronunciation: (kon'tn-unt), [key]
— n.
  1. one of the main landmasses of the globe, usually reckoned as seven in number (Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, and Antarctica).
  2. a comparable landmass on another planet.
  3. the mainland, as distinguished from islands or peninsulas.
  4. the mainland of Europe, as distinguished from the British Isles.
  5. a continuous tract or extent, as of land.
  6. something that serves as a container or boundary.
—adj.
  1. exercising or characterized by restraint in relation to the desires or passions and esp. to sexual desires; temperate.
  2. able to control urinary and fecal discharge.
  3. containing; being a container; capacious.
  4. restraining or restrictive.
  5. continuous; forming an uninterrupted tract, as land.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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