<B>contingency, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a happening or event depending on something that is uncertain; possibility. <BR> <I>Ex. The explorer carried supplies for every contingency.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an accidental happening; uncertain event; chance. <BR> <I>Ex. Football players seldom think of injury as a contingency while they are playing.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>uncertainty of occurrence; dependence on chance. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Philosophy.) <DD><B> a. </B>the mode of existence, or of coming to pass, which does not involve necessity. <DD><B> b. </B>a happening by chance or free will. <DD><B> 5. </B>something incidental to something else. </DL>
<A NAME="contingencyfund">
<B>contingency fund,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a fund or appropriation reserved for contingencies. <BR> <I>Ex. The budget includes a $500 million defense contingency fund, to be spent as the President sees fit (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="contingencytable">
<B>contingency table,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a statistical table showing the frequency distribution of groups classified according to two (or more) characteristics. </DL>
<A NAME="contingent">
<B>contingent, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a share of soldiers, laborers, or other persons furnished to a force from different sources. <BR> <I>Ex. The United States sent a large contingent of troops to Europe in World War II.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a group that is a part of a larger group. <BR> <I>Ex. The New York contingent had seats together at the national convention.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>something accidental or unexpected. <DD><B> 4. </B>a portion or share assigned; allotment. <BR> <I>Ex. The young heir's contingent of the estate was smaller than he had hoped for.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>depending on something uncertain; conditional. <BR> <I>Ex. Our plans for a picnic are contingent upon fair weather.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>liable to happen or not to happen; possible; uncertain. <BR> <I>Ex. The traveler set aside five dollars a day for contingent expenses.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>happening by chance; accidental; unexpected. <BR> <I>Ex. If they had no contingent meeting, he determined to plan one.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Logic.) accidentally existing or true; not existing or occurring through necessity. <BR> <I>Ex. All statements about "human nature" are contingent upon the meaning of "human" and "nature."</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Law.) dependent on events or circumstances that may occur. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Accounting.) depending on or for use in the event of unforeseeable or uncertain circumstances. <BR> <I>Ex. a contingent fund.</I> adv. <B>contingently.</B> noun <B>contingentness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="contingentliability">
<B>contingent liability,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a potential liability, such as that accepted by the comaker of a note. </DL>
<A NAME="continua">
<B>continua, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> plural of <B>continuum.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="continual">
<B>continual, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>never stopping. <BR> <I>Ex. the continual wash of the tides.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>repeated many times; very frequent. <BR> <I>Ex. No one likes continual interruptions while reading.</I> noun <B>continualness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="continually">
<B>continually, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>always; without stopping. <BR> <I>Ex. A doctor is continually on call.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>again and again; very frequently. <BR> <I>Ex. She is continually losing things.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="continuance">
<B>continuance, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a continuing; going on. <BR> <I>Ex. There was a continuance of work in spite of the cold weather.</I> (SYN) lasting. <DD><B> 2. </B>the act of remaining; stay. <BR> <I>Ex. His continuance in school depends on his health. A public official is paid during his continuance in office.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the time during which anything lasts; duration. <DD><B> 4. </B>a continuation; sequel. <BR> <I>Ex. the continuance of a story.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>adjournment or postponement of legal proceedings until a future time. </DL>
<A NAME="continuant">
<B>continuant, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Phonetics.) a prolongable sound, especially a consonant, such as <I>f</I> or <I>z.</I> </DL>
<B>continuation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of going on with a thing after stopping; a beginning again. <BR> <I>Ex. Continuation of my work was hard after I had been ill for a month.</I> (SYN) resumption. <DD><B> 2. </B>anything by which a thing is continued; added part. <BR> <I>Ex. The continuation of the story will appear in next month's magazine.</I> (SYN) sequel, supplement. <DD><B> 3. </B>the act or fact of not stopping. <DD><B> 4. </B>(British.) (on the stock exchange) the carrying over of an account until the next settling day. </DL>
<A NAME="continuationschool">
<B>continuation school,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a school for people who have left elementary school or high school to go to work. It is held in the evening or during special hours in the day. <DD><B> 2. </B>(in Ontario, Canada) a small secondary school. </DL>
<A NAME="continuative">
<B>continuative, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>tending or serving to continue. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Grammar.) expressing continuance of a thought. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>something continuative. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Grammar.) a continuative word or expression. <BR> <I>Ex. A dependent clause is a continuative.</I> adv. <B>continuatively.</B> noun <B>continuativeness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="continuator">
<B>continuator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who continues something. </DL>
<A NAME="continue">
<B>continue, </B>verb, <B>-tinued,</B> <B>-tinuing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to go on; keep up; keep on; not stop. <BR> <I>Ex. The road continues for miles. The rain continued all day.</I> (SYN) extend. <DD><B> 2. </B>to go on after stopping. <BR> <I>Ex. The class begged the teacher to continue with the reading.</I> (SYN) resume. <DD><B> 3. </B>to last; endure. <BR> <I>Ex. The king's reign continued for 20 years.</I> (SYN) persist. <DD><B> 4. </B>to stay; remain. <BR> <I>Ex. The children must continue in school till the end of June.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to remain in a certain way. <BR> <I>Ex. He continues happy. Greece continues to be an important country with respect to merchant shipping.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to go on with; keep on; keep up. <BR> <I>Ex. We continued our efforts to raise money for the hospital.</I> (SYN) prolong. <DD><B> 2. </B>to extend in space. <BR> <I>Ex. The farmer continued his fence from the pasture to the highway.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to take up; carry on; go on with after stopping; begin again. <BR> <I>Ex. He ate lunch and then continued his work. The story will be continued in next month's magazine.</I> (SYN) resume, renew. <DD><B> 4. </B>to cause to last; prolong; maintain. <BR> <I>Ex. She continued the family tradition by going to law school.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to cause to stay; retain. <BR> <I>Ex. The people continued the president in office for another term.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>to put off until a later time; postpone; adjourn. <BR> <I>Ex. The judge continued the case until next month.</I> adj. <B>continuable.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="continuedfraction">
<B>continued fraction,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a fraction whose numerator is a whole number and whose denominator is a whole number plus a fraction which has a denominator composed of a whole number plus a fraction, and so on. </DL>
<A NAME="continuing">
<B>continuing, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>persistent; continuous. <BR> <I>Ex. Continuing population growth places a premium on capital (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>enduring. <BR> <I>Ex. For here have we no continuing city (Hebrews 13:14).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="continuity">
<B>continuity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the condition or quality of being continuous. <BR> <I>Ex. The continuity of his story was broken when the telephone rang. Unfortunately, no questions from the audience broke the continuity of his harangue.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a continuous or connected whole; unbroken series. <BR> <I>Ex. a continuity of misfortunes. The continuity of the movie was broken when the power failed.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a detailed plan for a motion picture; scenario. <BR> <I>Ex. Keaton wrote the story and continuity of "The General," directed it, cut it, and ... played the leading role (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 4a. </B>any connecting comments or announcements between the parts of a radio or television program. <DD><B> b. </B>a script for the spoken portion of such a program. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Mathematics.) the property of a line, curve, or the like that extends without a break or irregularity. <DD><B> a. </B>the property of a continuous function. </DL>
<A NAME="continuitygirl">
<B>continuity girl</B> or <B>clerk,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an assistant in a motion-picture studio who keeps a record of the filmed scenes to maintain continuity between takes. </DL>
<A NAME="continuityman">
<B>continuity man,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person who writes continuity for a radio or television program. </DL>
<A NAME="continuo">
<B>continuo, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Music.) a bass part extending throughout a piece, with written figures indicating the intended harmony; thorough bass. <BR> <I>Ex. Purists may complain that the continuo, played by harpsichord, cello and double bass, is too heavy (Maclean's).</I> </DL>
