1. [n]  the European mainland; "Englishmen like to visit the Continent but they wouldn't like to live there"
2. [n]  one of the large landmasses of the earth; "there are seven continents"; "pioneers had to cross the continent on foot"
3. [adj]  abstaining from sexual intercourse; "celibate priests"
4. [adj]  having control over urination and defecation

Continent
A novel about rustic life from the acclaimed British writer. Winner of the Whitbread First Novel Prize and the Guardian Fiction Prize.

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1. \Con"ti*nent\, a. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr.
   of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent.
   See {Contain}.]
   1. Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing.
      [Obs.] --Shak.
   2. Exercising restraint as to the indulgence of desires or
      passions; temperate; moderate.
            Have a continent forbearance till the speed of his
            rage goes slower. --Shak.
   3. Abstaining from sexual intercourse; exercising restraint
      upon the sexual appetite; esp., abstaining from illicit
      sexual intercourse; chaste.
            My past life
            Hath been as continent, as chaste, as true,
            As I am now unhappy. --Shak.
   4. Not interrupted; connected; continuous; as, a continent
      fever. [Obs.]
            The northeast part of Asia is, if not continent with
            the west side of America, yet certainly it is the
            least disoined by sea of all that coast.
                                                  --Berrewood.
   

2. \Con"ti*nent\, n. [L. continens, prop., a holding
   together: cf. F. continent. See {Continent}, a.]
   1. That which contains anything; a receptacle. [Obs.]
            The smaller continent which we call a pipkin. --Bp.
                                                  Kennet.
   2. One of the grand divisions of land on the globe; the main
      land; specifically (Phys. Geog.), a large body of land
      differing from an island, not merely in its size, but in
      its structure, which is that of a large basin bordered by
      mountain chains; as, the continent of North America.
   Note: The continents are now usually regarded as six in
         number: North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
         Africa, and Australia. But other large bodies of land
         are also reffered to as continents; as, the Antarctic
         continent; the continent of Greenland. Europe, Asia,
         and Africa are often grouped together as the Eastern
         Continent, and North and South America as the Western
         Continent.
   {The Continent}, the main land of Europe, as distinguished
      from the islands, especially from England.