continental breakfast
7
1.6
- noun
- /ˌkɒntɪˈnɛntl ˈbrɛkfəst/
:
desayuno continental
- The hotel offers a complimentary continental breakfast with pastries and coffee every morning.
- continental breakfast and lunch
Examples
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There is a place to walk, an outdoor hot tub, a foaming fountain lighted in multi-colors to sit by at night, and continental breakfast in the morning.
Academic text (2010) -
The affordably priced conference fee includes a continental breakfast and a bountiful buffet lunch.
Blog text (24) -
You will enjoy our free continental breakfast!
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There is continental breakfast every morning.
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You joining us for continental breakfast?
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The resort has a complimentary continental breakfast.
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Registration and continental breakfast will begin at 8 a.m., followed by the program start at 8:30 a.m.
Blog text (9) -
We'd like a complimentary continental breakfast.
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Also, from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. every morning, there's a free continental breakfast.
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This special promotion includes continental breakfast for two at CITRUS and two cocktails at the ultra-hip Vbar.
Blog text (7)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
The first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning
A light breakfast with bread and coffee or tea
How Filling
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound literally combines 'continental' (relating to continental Europe) with 'breakfast,' so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand it denotes a Europe-style/simple breakfast rather than a full cooked meal. However, the specific conventions (light fare of bread, pastries, jam, coffee/tea) rely on cultural knowledge and are not fully predictable from the words alone, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The term continental breakfast comes from the simple morning meals on the European 'continent', where people often ate bread, pastries and coffee rather than a heavy cooked meal. That's why today it means a light hotel breakfast of bread, pastries and hot drinks.