'Contract' definitions:
Definition of 'contract'
From: WordNet
noun
A binding agreement between two or more persons that is enforceable by law
noun
(contract bridge) the highest bid becomes the contract setting the number of tricks that the bidder must make [syn: contract, declaration]
noun
A variety of bridge in which the bidder receives points toward game only for the number of tricks he bid [syn: contract, contract bridge]
verb
Enter into a contractual arrangement [syn: contract, undertake]
verb
Engage by written agreement; "They signed two new pitchers for the next season" [syn: sign, contract, sign on, sign up]
verb
Squeeze or press together; "she compressed her lips"; "the spasm contracted the muscle" [syn: compress, constrict, squeeze, compact, contract, press]
verb
Be stricken by an illness, fall victim to an illness; "He got AIDS"; "She came down with pneumonia"; "She took a chill" [syn: contract, take, get]
verb
Become smaller or draw together; "The fabric shrank"; "The balloon shrank" [syn: shrink, contract] [ant: expand, spread out, stretch]
verb
Make smaller; "The heat contracted the woollen garment"
verb
Compress or concentrate; "Congress condensed the three-year plan into a six-month plan" [syn: condense, concentrate, contract]
verb
Make or become more narrow or restricted; "The selection was narrowed"; "The road narrowed" [syn: narrow, contract] [ant: widen]
verb
Definition of 'Contract'
From: GCIDE
- 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]
Definition of 'Contract'
From: GCIDE
- Contract \Con*tract"\ (k[o^]n*tr[a^]kt"), v. i.
- 1. 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. --Wordsworth. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain; as, to contract for carrying the mail. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Contract'
From: GCIDE
- Contract \Con"tract\ (k[o^]n"tr[a^]kt), a. Contracted; as, a contract verb. --Goodwin. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Contract'
From: GCIDE
- Contract \Con*tract"\ (k[o^]n*tr[a^]kt"), a. [L. contractus, p. p.] Contracted; affianced; betrothed. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Contract'
From: GCIDE
- Contract \Con"tract\ (k[o^]n"tr[a^]kt), n. [L. contractus, fr. contrahere: cf. F. contrat, formerly also contract.]
- 1. (Law) 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]
- 2. 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]
- 3. The act of formally betrothing a man and woman. [1913 Webster]
- This is the the night of the contract. --Longwellow.
- Syn: Covenant; agreement; compact; stipulation; bargain; arrangement; obligation. See Covenant. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'contract'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- 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,
- OD,
- 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
Words containing 'Contract'
- Contracted,
- Contractibility,
- Contractible,
- Contractibleness,
- Contracting,
- Contraction,
- Contractive,
- contract in,
- contract out,
- contractable,
- Consensual contract,
- Contract system,
- Contract tablet,
- Dependent contract,
- Divisible contract,
- Innominate contracts,
- Literal contract,
- Parol contract,
- Simple contract,
- Unilateral contract,
- Wagering contract,
- adhesion contract,
- aleatory contract,
- bilateral contract,
- breach of contract,
- conditional contract,
- contract bridge,
- contract killing,
- contract law,
- contract of adhesion,
- contract of hazard,
- contract offer,
- contract under seal,
- employment contract,
- futures contract,
- gambling contract,
- labor contract,
- marriage contract,
- muscle contraction,
- muscular contraction,
- oral contract,
- output contract,
- purchase contract,
- quasi contract,
- requirements contract,
- service contract,
- severable contract,
- social contract,
- special contract,
- term of a contract,
- uterine contraction,
- premature ventricular contraction,
- To cover one's short contracts,
- braxton-hicks contraction,
- cost-plus contract,
- yellow-dog contract