'Contracting' definitions:

Definition of 'contracting'

(from WordNet)
noun
Becoming infected; "catching cold is sometimes unavoidable"; "the contracting of a serious illness can be financially catastrophic" [syn: catching, contracting]

Definition of 'Contracting'

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 'contracting'

From: GCIDE
  • contracting \contracting\ n. the act or process of acquiring an infectious disease; contraction; as, the contracting of a serious illness can be financially catastrophic.
  • Syn: catching. [WordNet 1.5]

Words containing 'Contracting'