Contract

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: con=tract

CIDE DICTIONARY

Contract, v. t. [L. contractus, p. p. of contrahere to contract; con- + trahere to draw: cf. F. contracter. See Trace, and cf. Contract, n.].

•  To draw together or nearer; to reduce to a less compass; to shorten, narrow, or lessen; as, to contract one's sphere of action.  [1913 Webster]

  "In all things desuetude doth contract and narrow our faculties."  [1913 Webster]
•  To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.  [1913 Webster]

  "Thou didst contract and purse thy brow."  [1913 Webster]
•  To bring on; to incur; to acquire; as, to contract a habit; to contract a debt; to contract a disease.  [1913 Webster]

  "Each from each contract new strength and light."  [1913 Webster]

  "Such behavior we contract by having much conversed with persons of high station."  [1913 Webster]
•  To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for.  [1913 Webster]

  "We have contracted an inviolable amity, peace, and lague with the aforesaid queen."  [1913 Webster]

  "Many persons . . . had contracted marriage within the degrees of consanguinity . . . prohibited by law."  [1913 Webster]
•  To betroth; to affiance.  [1913 Webster]

  "The truth is, she and I, long since contracted,
  Are now so sure, that nothing can dissolve us."  [1913 Webster]
•  To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.

Syn. -- To shorten; abridge; epitomize; narrow; lessen; condense; reduce; confine; incur; assume.

Contract, v. i. 

•  To be drawn together so as to be diminished in size or extent; to shrink; to be reduced in compass or in duration; as, iron contracts in cooling; a rope contracts when wet.  [1913 Webster]

  "Years contracting to a moment."  [1913 Webster]
•  To make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain; as, to contract for carrying the mail.  [1913 Webster]

Contract, a. 

 Contracted; as, a contract verb.  Goodwin.  [1913 Webster]

Contract, a. [L. contractus, p. p.].

 Contracted; affianced; betrothed.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

Contract, n. [L. contractus, fr. contrahere: cf. F. contrat, formerly also contract.].

•  The agreement of two or more persons, upon a sufficient consideration or cause, to do, or to abstain from doing, some act; an agreement in which a party undertakes to do, or not to do, a particular thing; a formal bargain; a compact; an interchange of legal rights.  Wharton.  [1913 Webster]
•  A formal writing which contains the agreement of parties, with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof of the obligation.  [1913 Webster]
•  The act of formally betrothing a man and woman.  [1913 Webster]

  "This is the the night of the contract."

Syn. -- Covenant; agreement; compact; stipulation; bargain; arrangement; obligation. See Covenant.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Contract, n. & v.
--n.
1 a written or spoken agreement between two or more parties, intended to be enforceable by law.
2 a document recording this.
3 marriage regarded as a binding commitment.
4 Bridge etc. an undertaking to win the number of tricks bid.
--v.
1 tr. & intr. make or become smaller.
2 a intr. (usu. foll. by with) make a contract. b intr. (usu. foll. by for, or to + infin.) enter formally into a business or legal arrangement. c tr. (often foll. by out) arrange (work) to be done by contract.
3 tr. catch or develop (a disease).
4 tr. form or develop (a friendship, habit, etc.).
5 tr. enter into (marriage).
6 tr. incur (a debt etc.).
7 tr. shorten (a word) by combination or elision.
8 tr. draw (one's muscles, brow, etc.) together.

Idiom

contract bridge the most common form of bridge, in which only tricks bid and won count towards the game. contract in (or out) (also refl.) Brit. choose to be involved in (or withdraw or remain out of) a scheme or commitment.

Derivative

contractive adj.

Etymology

earlier as adj., = contracted: OF, f. L contractus (as COM-, trahere tract- draw)

THESAURUS

Contract

OD, abbreviate, abridge, abstract, accept obligation, accord, acquire, affair, affiance, afflict, agree, agree to, agreement, answer for, arrangement, attempt, bag, bang, bar, bargain, bargain for, barricade, batten, batten down, be answerable for, be brought down, be felled, be responsible for, be security for, be seized of, be struck down, be traumatized, become engaged, betroth, bind, binding agreement, bob, boil down, bolt, bond, break out, bring down, bring on, bring upon, business, button, button up, capsulize, capture, cartel, catch, catch cold, cause, choke, choke off, circumscribe, clap, clip, close, close up, coarct, collapse, collective agreement, come by, come down with, come in for, come into, commit, commitment, compact, compress, concentrate, condense, confine, consolidate, consortium, constrict, constringe, contain, contract an engagement, convention, corral, corrugate, covenant, covenant of salt, cover, cramp, crease, crop, curtail, cut, cut back, cut down, cut off short, cut short, deal, decline, decrease, derange, derive, develop, dicker, diminish, disorder, do a deal, dock, drag down, draw, draw in, draw together, dwindle, earn, effort, elide, employment contract, engage, engagement, enter into possession, enterprise, epitomize, erupt, fail, fall in with, fall into, fasten, fever, fold, fold up, foreshorten, formal agreement, gain, get, go bail for, go in, go into shock, harvest, have an understanding, incur, indispose, induce, invite, ironclad agreement, key, knit, latch, legal agreement, legal contract, lessen, limit, lock, lock out, lock up, make, make a deal, minify, mow, mutual agreement, narrow, net, nip, obligate, obligation, obtain, occlude, operation, overdose, pact, paction, padlock, plan, plight, plumb, poll, pollard, preengagement, procure, program, project, promise, proposition, protocol, prune, publish the banns, pucker, pucker up, pull down, purse, reap, recap, recapitulate, recognizance, reduce, restrict, retrench, run, run a temperature, sack, scale down, score, seal, seal off, seal up, secure, shake hands on, shave, shear, shorten, shrink, shut, shut the door, shut up, sicken, sink, slam, snap, snape, snub, solidify, squeeze, squeeze shut, stipulate, stipulation, straiten, strangle, strangulate, stunt, succumb to, sum up, summarize, synopsize, take, take ill, take in, take the vows, taper, task, telescope, transaction, treaty, trim, troth, truncate, understanding, undertake, undertaking, union contract, upset, valid contract, venture, verbal agreement, wage contract, weaken, welcome, win, work, wrinkle, zip up, zipper

ROGET THESAURUS

Contract

Undertaking

VB undertake, engage in, embark in, launch into, plunge into, volunteer, apprentice oneself to, engage, contract, take upon oneself, take upon one's shoulders, devote oneself to, take up, take in hand, tackle, set about, go about, set to, fall to, set to work, launch forth, set up shop, put in hand, put in execution, set forward, break the neck of a business, be in, for, put one's hand to, put one's foot in, betake oneself to, turn one's hand to, go to do, begin one's, broach one's, institute one's, put one's hand to the plow, lay one's hand to the plow, put one's shoulder to the wheel, have in hand, have many irons in the fire.

Promise

N promise, undertaking, word, troth, plight, pledge, parole, word of honor, vow, oath, profession, assurance, warranty, guarantee, insurance, obligation, contract, stipulation, engagement, preengagement, affiance, betroth, betrothal, betrothment, promising, promissory, votive, under hand and seal, upon oath, promised, affianced, pledged, bound, committed, compromised, in for it, as one's head shall answer for, in for a penny in for a pound, ex voto, gage d'amour.

Compact

N compact, contract, agreement, bargain, affidation, pact, paction, bond, covenant, indenture, bundobast, deal, stipulation, settlement, convention, compromise, cartel, Protocol, treaty, concordat, Zollverein, Sonderbund, charter, Magna Charta, Progmatic Sanction, customs union, free trade region, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, GATT, most favored nation status, negotiation, diplomacy, negotiator, ratification, completion, signature, seal, sigil, signet, agreed, conventional, under hand and seal, caveat emptor.

VB contract, covenant, agree for, engage, treat, negotiate, stipulate, make terms, bargain, make a bargain, strike a bargain, come to terms, come to an understanding, compromise, set at rest, close, close with, conclude, complete, settle, confirm, ratify, clench, subscribe, underwrite, endorse, indorse, put the seal to, sign, seal, indent, take one at one's word, bargain by inch of candle.

Contraction

VB become small, become smaller, lessen, decrease, grow less, dwindle, shrink, contract, narrow, shrivel, collapse, wither, lose flesh, wizen, fall away, waste, wane, ebb, decay, be smaller than, fall short of, not come up to, render smaller, lessen, diminish, contract, draw in, narrow, coarctate, boil down, constrict, constringe, condense, compress, squeeze, corrugate, crimp, crunch, crush, crumple up, warp, purse up, pack, squeeze, stow, pinch, tighten, strangle, cramp, dwarf, bedwarf, shorten, circumscribe, restrain, (subtraction) 38 abrade, pare, reduce, attenuate, rub down, scrape, file, file down, grind, grind down, chip, shave, shear, wear down, become small, become smaller, lessen, decrease, grow less, dwindle, shrink, contract, narrow, shrivel, collapse, wither, lose flesh, wizen, fall away, waste, wane, ebb, decay, be smaller than, fall short of, not come up to, render smaller, lessen, diminish, contract, draw in, narrow, coarctate, boil down, constrict, constringe, condense, compress, squeeze, corrugate, crimp, crunch, crush, crumple up, warp, purse up, pack, squeeze, stow, pinch, tighten, strangle, cramp, dwarf, bedwarf, shorten, circumscribe, restrain, (subtraction) 38 abrade, pare, reduce, attenuate, rub down, scrape, file, file down, grind, grind down, chip, shave, shear, wear down.

Thinness

VB be narrow, narrow, taper, contract, render narrow, waste away.