- Contract
- Contract Con*tract" (k[o^]n*tr[a^]kt"), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
{Contracted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Contracting}.] [L. contractus,
p. p. of contrahere to contract; con- + trahere to draw: cf.
F. contracter. See {Trace}, and cf. {Contract}, n.]
1. 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. --Dr. H. More. [1913 Webster]
2. To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit. [1913 Webster]
Thou didst contract and purse thy brow. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
3. 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. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
Such behavior we contract by having much conversed with persons of high station. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
4. 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. --Hakluyt. [1913 Webster]
Many persons . . . had contracted marriage within the degrees of consanguinity . . . prohibited by law. --Strype. [1913 Webster]
5. To betroth; to affiance. [1913 Webster]
The truth is, she and I, long since contracted, Are now so sure, that nothing can dissolve us. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
6. (Gram.) 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. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
