Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Voluntary control over urinary and fecal discharge.
- noun Self-restraint, especially abstinence from sexual intercourse. synonym: abstinence.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In general, self-restraint with regard to desires and passions; self-command.
- noun In a special sense, the restraint of the sexual passion within due bounds, whether absolute, as in celibacy, or within lawful limits, as in marriage; chastity.
- noun Capacity for holding or containing: as, a measure which has only one half the continence of another. Continuity; uninterrupted course.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Self-restraint; self-command.
- noun The restraint which a person imposes upon his desires and passions; the act or power of refraining from indulgence of the sexual appetite, esp. from unlawful indulgence; sometimes, moderation in sexual indulgence.
- noun obsolete Uninterrupted course; continuity.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
voluntary control ofurination anddefecation . - noun
Moderation orself-restraint , especially insexual activity ;abstinence .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun voluntary control over urinary and fecal discharge
- noun the exercise of self constraint in sexual matters
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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And, while Jeff's comment on clerical continence is premature, I suspect we are heading toward a serious re-examination of that issue at the universal level.
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Nurses and nurse practitioners who are trained in continence care are needed to help provide support for those individuals living with incontinence in the community and their caregivers.
Dr. Sharma’s Obesity Notes » Blog Archive » Obesity Network Joins Incontinence Coalition 2009
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Full bladder continence is pretty much there in spite of his obvious fear of any public toilet (remember that big insulated bubble he has) but we have yet to poopin the potty.
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Full bladder continence is pretty much there in spite of his obvious fear of any public toilet (remember that big insulated bubble he has) but we have yet to poopin the potty.
where I find myself aware of premature bed bugs « Adventures in Juggling 2007
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With all its color and fierce action, a certain Greek continence pervades it.
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With all its color and fierce action, a certain Greek continence pervades it.
Specimen Days; from Complete Poetry and Collected Prose 1855
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Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality.
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The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality."
One Church, Universal and Not Opposed to Family Planning 2008
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Hence by receiving a certain order a man receives the power of exercising certain sacred acts, but he is not bound on this account to things pertaining to perfection, except in so far as in the Western Church the receiving of a sacred order includes the taking of a vow of continence, which is one of the things pertaining to perfection, as we shall state further on (Q. 186, A. 4).
Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province Aquinas Thomas
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As a form of continence, however, if it can be called continence, it is asserted to bring none of the long course of evils which too often follow the practice of lifelong abstinence, or abstinence broken only when a child is desired.
Woman and the New Race Margaret Sanger 1924
catspringer commented on the word continence
"Give me chastity and continence, but not yet." -- St. Augustine
March 2, 2009