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Nonstop vs Continuous - What's the difference?

nonstop | continuous |

As adjectives the difference between nonstop and continuous

is that nonstop is without stopping; without interruption or break while continuous is without break, cessation, or interruption; without intervening time.

As an adverb nonstop

is without stopping; without interruption or break.

As a noun nonstop

is a nonstop journey, especially a nonstop flight.

nonstop

English

Alternative forms

* non-stop

Adjective

(-)
  • Without stopping; without interruption or break;
    • There's a nonstop flight to Mauritius, but I'm not sitting on the same plane for thirteen hours.

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Without stopping; without interruption or break
    • He worked nonstop for fourteen hours yesterday, just so he could get today off.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A journey, especially a nonstop flight.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2007, date=October 14, author=David Kaufman, title=Discounters Are In for the Long Hauls, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=With business-class seats on nonstops from British Airways and Cathay Pacific often priced up to $8,000 round trip, Mr. Exton typically flew cheaper alternatives that saved money but required layovers and plane switches. }} English frequency adverbs

    continuous

    English

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Without break, cessation, or interruption; without intervening time.
    • a continuous current of electricity
  • * 1847 , , Ticknor and Fields (1854), page 90:
    • he can hear its continuous murmur
  • Without intervening space; continued; protracted; extended.
    • a continuous line of railroad
  • (botany) Not deviating or varying from uniformity; not interrupted; not joined or articulated.
  • (analysis, of a function) Such that, for every x'' in the domain, for each small open interval ''D'' about ''f''(''x''), there's an interval containing ''x'' whose image is in ''D .
  • (mathematics, more generally, of a function) Such that each open set in the range has an open preimage.
    • Each continuous function from the real line to the rationals is constant, since the rationals are totally disconnected.
  • (grammar) Expressing an ongoing action or state.

    • Usage notes

    *

    Synonyms

    * (without break, cessation, or interruption in time''): constant, continual (''but see usage notes above ), incessant, never-ending, ongoing, unbroken, unceasing, unending, uninterrupted * (without break, cessation, or interruption in space ): connected, unbroken * See also

    Antonyms

    * (without break, cessation, or interruption in time ): broken, discontinuous, discrete, intermittent, interrupted * (without break, cessation, or interruption in space ): broken, disconnected, disjoint, unbroken * (in mathematical analysis ): discontinuous, stepwise

    Derived terms

    * continuous brake * continuous impost * continuously * continuousness (in mathematics) * continuous distribution * continuous function * continuous group * continuous line illusion * continuous map * continuous mapping theorem * continuous space * continuous vector bundle * continuously differentiable function * uniformly continuous

    Related terms

    * continuity * continued * continuum

    See also

    * constant * contiguous

    References