continue

Etymology

From Middle English continuen, from Old French continuer, from Latin continuāre. Displaced native Old English þurhwunian.

verb

1. (transitive) To proceed with (doing an activity); to prolong (an activity).
   Shall I continue speaking, or will you just interrupt me again?
   Do you want me to continue to unload these?
   Fuelled by their fury, Spurs surged forward and gave themselves hope after 56 minutes when Scott Parker's precise through-ball released Adebayor. He was pulled down in the area by Cech but referee Atkinson allowed play to continue for Bale to roll the ball into an empty net. April 15, 2012, Phil McNulty, BBC
   It has emphasised that the proposals do not involve any work on the railway itself, so train services would continue to run throughout. January 12 2022, “Network News: £7.2 million plan to stop flooding and protect South West rail link”, in RAIL, number 948, page 12
2. (transitive) To make last; to prolong.
   Can you account him wise or discreet that would willingly have his health, and yet will do nothing that should procure or continue it? , New York, 2001, p.74
3. (transitive) To retain (someone or something) in a given state, position, etc.
   The schools were very much the brainchild of Bertin, and although the latter was ousted from the post of Controller-General by Choiseul in 1763, he was continued by the king as a fifth secretary of state […]. 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 257
4. (intransitive, copulative sense obsolete) To remain in a given place or condition; to remain in connection with; to abide; to stay.
5. (intransitive) To resume.
   When will the concert continue?
6. (transitive, law) To adjourn, prorogue, put off.
   This meeting has been continued to the thirteenth of July.
7. (poker slang) To make a continuation bet.

noun

1. (video games) An option allowing the player to resume play after game over, when all lives have been lost, while retaining their progress.
   So if you died battling the green monster inside the cave—and you had run out of lives—maybe a continue would be available. 2008, Jeannie Novak, Luis Levy, Play the Game: The Parent's Guide to Video Games, page 48
   Moreover, where three lives and a sparse availability of extra life-giving '1-Ups' marked the 1991 experience, the iPod player is offered an unlimited number of continues with which to progress through the gameworld. 2012, James A. Newman, Best Before: Videogames, Supersession and Obsolescence, page 128