kənˈti(ˌ)nyü, -tinyə ( this pronunc bef a vowel or pause is especially S ); often -_nyəw+V verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English continuen, from Middle French continuer, from Latin continuare to connect, continue, from continuus continuous — more at continuous
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to be steadfast or constant in a course or activity : keep up or maintain especially without interruption a particular condition, course, or series of actions : persevere , endure , persist
continue to go to church each Sunday
b. : to keep going : maintain a course, direction, or progress
the boat continued downstream after discharging the passengers
the broad beach continues all the way along the promenade
— often used with on
they continued on for a quarter of a mile — Norman Mailer
2. : to be permanent or durable : remain in existence : endure , last
but now thy kingdom shall not continue — 1 Sam 13:14 (Authorized Version)
3. : to remain in a place or condition
if the patient continues unconscious
: abide , stay
he cannot long continue here
4. : to proceed to discourse especially after intermission
transitive verb
1. : to carry onward or extend : keep up or maintain (as an activity)
continued walking all day
: prolong : add to or draw out in length, duration, or development
continue the battle
specifically : to resume (as a discourse) especially after intermission
2. : to cause to last, endure, or keep on
continued my subscription for another year
3. : to allow or cause to remain (in a place or condition) : retain
the trustees were continued
4. : to keep on the court calendar : subject to further consideration : postpone by a continuance — used of a legal proceeding
Synonyms:
last , endure , abide , persist : continue indicates a remaining or going on, often in an uninterrupted way, without ceasing or ending
in continuing cancer research lies the ultimate hope of providing the clinician with solutions to his many diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas — Americana Annual
the illusion continues that civilization can somehow be reconciled with atomic war — D.F.Fleming
last may focus attention on a length of existence greater than the normal or expected
the work that Michelangelo did complete has lasted well — Stringfellow Barr
endure often calls attention to resistances to destructive and disintegrative forces
it is only the exceptional skeleton, protected by favorable circumstances, of which the bones will endure for thousands of years — A.L.Kroeber
the government thus established endured till Oregon became a Territory — Joseph Schafer
abide , often poetic or archaic, may suggest unchanging constancy and stability
O Thou who changest not, abide with me — Henry Lyte
notwithstanding the countless features of … living which were abiding, the changes made themselves felt — John Mason Brown
persist may imply continuing or recurring with or as if with resolution, doggedness, or stubbornness
the idea that there exists a universal remedy which is sovereign over all diseases has persisted through the centuries — G.W.Gray b.1886
this tribal structure, though simplified to some extent by past reforms, still persists — Patrick Smith
these forests have reigned supreme for countless millenia, probably having persisted more or less unchanged for a longer period than any other contemporary forest type — W.H.Hodge