I. ˈkän.ˌtrakt noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin contractus, from contractus, past participle of contrahere to draw together, collect, cause, make a bargain, make a contract, from com- + trahere to draw — more at draw
1.
a. : an agreement between two or more persons or parties to do or not to do something : bargain , compact , covenant ; especially : an agreement that is legally enforceable — see quasi contract ; compare consideration 8b, deed , nudum pactum , pactum , parol contract , specialty contract
b. : the act by which two persons enter into the marriage relation ; also : the agreement so to do : betrothal
c. archaic : a legal transaction (as a grant between private parties or a grant, charter, or franchise from the state)
no State shall … pass any bill of attainder … or law impairing the obligation of contracts — U.S. Constitution
d. : a collective agreement (as between an employer and a union)
2. obsolete : a drawing together : mutual attraction
3. : a writing made by the parties to evidence the terms and conditions of a contract
4. : the department or principles of law having to do with contracts
5. card games
a. : an undertaking usually by the player or side that makes the highest bid to win a specified number of tricks or points ; also : the number of tricks or points so undertaken
b. contract bridge : the final bid
c. : contract bridge
6.
[ contract (II) ]
: a word or form undergoing contraction or resulting from contraction
7. : the customary unit of trading in produce exchanges
one contract in wheat is 5,000 bushels
8. : one of the installments in a course of schoolwork which a student undertakes to complete within a given time working at his own speed and under individual instruction according to a system originated in the public high school of Dalton, Mass.
II. (ˈ)kän.|traktˈ, kən.ˈ- adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French contracte, from Latin contractus, past participle
: contracted
a contract noun
: shrunken , narrowed
III. in sense 1 usually ˈkänˌtrakt; in other senses usually kənˈtrakt verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle French contracter to agree upon, enter into, from Latin contractus contract (agreement)
transitive verb
1.
a. : to enter into with mutual obligations : establish or undertake by contract
contracted an engagement with a neighboring … farmer — Rose Macaulay
: place under contract
b. : betroth , affiance
contracted his daughter with the son of an old friend
2.
a. : to bring on oneself : acquire usually involuntarily (as a habit) : catch
contract a disease
contracted pneumonia
b. : incur
contract an obligation
contracted numerous debts
3.
a. : limit , restrict
the town's limits had not been contracted
b. obsolete : abridge
c. : to draw together so as to wrinkle : knit
a frown contracted his brow
d. : to draw together or nearer : concentrate
contract his armies into one force
4.
[Latin contractus, past participle]
: to reduce to less compass or smaller size : squeeze or force together : shorten , narrow , lessen
contract a muscle
: cause to shrink
reexpand the world which Bacon had so effectively contracted — J.W.Krutch
5. : to shorten (as a word) by omitting one or more sounds or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one
intransitive verb
1. : to make a contract : covenant , bargain
responsible for contracting with local institutions for the confinement … of Federal offenders — Current Biography
contract for the supply of meat to the barracks
2. : to draw together so as to diminish in size or extent : shrink
iron contracts in cooling
: become reduced in compass, duration, or length
years contracting to a moment — William Wordsworth
specifically of a muscle or muscle fiber : to shorten and broaden
Synonyms:
condense , compress , constrict , deflate , shrink : contract is a general antonym for expand and indicates any drawing in and limiting of area or scope
the range of classical reading might extend, or from time to time contract — H.O.Taylor
since World War II gold mining has expanded considerably while supplies of Negro labor have been contracting — New York Times
he sank back into his chair, seeming to contract, to wither before their shocked eyes — Angus Mowat
condense indicates a reduction of space occupied with resulting greater compactness of original material
condense gas into a liquid
in so far as we can condense Langland's message into a few words, we must sum it up as a long search for three degrees of excellence in life — Do Well, Do Better, and Do Best — G.G.Coulton
compress indicates a pressing, often against resistance, into smaller compass and definite shape
great depths of snow are accumulated, and this weight causes lower layers to compress and form ice — Patricia Spring
one of those tiny handkerchiefs, compressed into the shape of a small puffball by being clutched in the palm of a feverish hand — J.C.Powys
I shall make no attempt to compress a history of modern philosophy within the limits of one lecture — A.N.Whitehead
constrict indicates a binding, squeezing, or gripping contracting, often forced, onerous, or painful
the education of this promising young aristocrat constricted by the anti-intellectual traditions of his class excluded him from “the two great conceptions of our day … artistic integrity … and … social justice” — Harry Levin
from the health point of view garments should in general never be so tight as to constrict the tissues — Morris Fishbein
deflate indicates contracting brought about by the exhausting of air or gas that fills or inflates it
deflate a balloon
in his lecture on temperance he deflated those who felt too superior to associate with a reformed drunkard — Ruth P. Randall
shrink indicates a contracting of length, scope, or volume but may suggest the contracting of wet fabrics
as colonial empires shrink, Europe's horizons will too — A.E.Stevenson †1965
in 1906 he met his first sharp reverse in losses incurred by the San Francisco earthquake, but it was not until some seven years later that his modest fortune began to shrink — G.C.Knight
Synonym: see in addition promise .
IV. noun
: an arrangement whereby an assassin is paid to murder a particular person
the mob put out a contract on the man's life — Patricia Burstein