contract
contract
(kŏnʹtrăkt) noun
Abbr. contr., cont.
1.
a. An agreement between two or more parties, especially one that is written and enforceable by law. b. The writing or document containing such an agreement.
2. The branch of law dealing with formal agreements between parties.
3. Marriage as a formal agreement; betrothal.
4. Games. a. The last and highest bid of one hand in bridge. b. The number of tricks thus bid. c. Contract bridge.
5. A paid assignment to murder someone: put out a contract on the mobster's life.
verb
contracted
, contracting, contracts (kən-trăktʹ, kŏnʹtrăkt)
verb
, transitive
1.
To enter into by contract; establish or settle by formal agreement: contract a marriage.
2.
To acquire or incur: contract obligations; contract a serious illness.
3.
a. To reduce in size by drawing together; shrink. b. To pull together; wrinkle.
4. Grammar. To shorten (a word or words) by omitting or combining some of the letters or sounds.
verb
, intransitive
1.
To enter into or make an agreement: contract for garbage collection.
2.
To become reduced in size by or as if by being drawn together: The pupils of the patient's eyes contracted.
[Middle English, from Latin contrāctus past participle of contrahere, to draw together, make a contract : com-, com- + trahere, to draw.]
contractibil
ʹity or contractʹibleness noun
contract
ʹible adjective
Synonyms:
contract, condense, compress, constrict, shrink. These verbs mean to decrease in size or content. To contract is to draw together, especially by an internal force, with a resultant reduction in size, extent, or volume: The bodybuilders contracted their biceps in unison. The pupil of the eye dilates and contracts in response to light. Condense refers to a reduction in volume and an increase in compactness: "To produce snow requires both heat and cold; the first to evaporate, the second to condense" (John Lubbock). The chairman condensed all the suggestions put forward into a single plan of action. Compress applies to increased compactness brought about by pressing or squeezing; the term implies reduction in volume and change of form or shape: compress dough into a circle with a rolling pin; sat on the lid of the suitcase to compress the clothes; trying to compress my thoughts into a few words. To constrict is to make smaller or narrower, usually by binding or compression: An accumulation of silt constricted the entrance to the harbor. Tight shoes constrict the feet. Shrink refers to contraction that produces reduction in length, size, volume, or extent: Wool jersey should be shrunk before being cut and stitched. Many once prosperous northern mill towns have shrunk as industry has moved to the South. His capital shrank as his business foundered. See also synonyms at bargain.