a. [f. TRANS- 3 + CONTINENTAL. Cf. mod.F. transcontinental (Littré).] That extends or passes across a continent; also, of or pertaining to the farther side of a continent.
1851. Liverpool Mercury, 8 April, 3/4. Steam-ships will leave both this port and San Francisco, forming, in connection with these steamers, a complete line of trans-continental communication.
1869. J. A. Poor (title), Transcontinental Railway [from Atlantic to Pacific in U.S.].
1876. J. A. Allen, Amer. Bison (1877), 465. The great trans-continental emigrant route by way of the South Pass.
1883. W. J. Smith, in 19th Cent., Nov. 841. The transcontinental railway which Queensland is about to construct.
1898. Westm. Gaz., 27 Sept., 6/1. Mr. R. L. J—, the well-known Trans-Continental cyclist, arrived safely in Khiva on the 5th inst.
