\Con*tin"u*ous\, a. [L. continuus, fr. continere to
hold together. See {Continent}.]
1. Without break, cessation, or interruption; without
   intervening space or time; uninterrupted; unbroken;
   continual; unceasing; constant; continued; protracted;
   extended; as, a continuous line of railroad; a continuous
   current of electricity.

         he can hear its continuous murmur.    --Longfellow.

2. (Bot.) Not deviating or varying from uninformity; not
   interrupted; not joined or articulated.

{Continuous brake} (Railroad), a brake which is attached to
   each car a train, and can be caused to operate in all the
   cars simultaneously from a point on any car or on the
   engine.

{Continuous impost}. See {Impost}.

Syn: {Continuous}, {Continual}.

Usage: Continuous is the stronger word, and denotes that the
       continuity or union of parts is absolute and
       uninterrupted; as, a continuous sheet of ice; a
       continuous flow of water or of argument. So Daniel
       Webster speaks of ``a continuous and unbroken strain
       of the martial airs of England.'' Continual, in most
       cases, marks a close and unbroken succession of
       things, rather than absolute continuity. Thus we speak
       of continual showers, implying a repetition with
       occasional interruptions; we speak of a person as
       liable to continual calls, or as subject to continual
       applications for aid, etc. See {Constant}.