- Continuous brake
- Continuous 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.
[1913 Webster]
he can hear its continuous murmur. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]
2. (Bot.) Not deviating or varying from uninformity; not interrupted; not joined or articulated. [1913 Webster]
{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}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
