Definitions for: Contract


[n] a variety of bridge in which the bidder receives points toward game only for the number of tricks he bid
[n] a binding agreement between two or more persons that is enforceable by law
[n] (contract bridge) the highest bid becomes the contract setting the number of tricks that the bidder must make
[v] be stricken by an illness, fall victim to an illness; "He got AIDS"; "She came down with pneumonia"; "She took a chill"
[v] draw together; "The fabric shrank"
[v] reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "The manuscript must be shortened"
[v] make or become more narrow or restricted; "The selection was narrowed"; "The road narrowed"
[v] compress or concentrate; "Congress condensed the three-year plan into a six-month plan"
[v] enter into a contractual arrangement
[v] make smaller; "The garment contracted in the dryer"; "The heat contracted the woollen garment"
[v] squeeze or press together; "she compressed her lips"; "the muscle contracted"
[v] engage by written agreement; "They signed two new pitchers for the next season"



Webster (1913) Definition: Con*tract", 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.

In all things desuetude doth contract and narrow our
faculties. --Dr. H. More.

2. To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.

Thou didst contract and purse thy brow. --Shak.

3. To bring on; to incur; to acquire; as, to contract a
habit; to contract a debt; to contract a disease.

Each from each contract new strength and light.
--Pope.

Such behavior we contract by having much conversed
with persons of high station. --Swift.

4. To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain
or covenant for.

We have contracted an inviolable amity, peace, and
lague with the aforesaid queen. --Hakluyt.

Many persons . . . had contracted marriage within
the degrees of consanguinity . . . prohibited by
law. --Strype.

5. To betroth; to affiance.

The truth is, she and I, long since contracted, Are
now so sure, that nothing can dissolve us. --Shak.

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.


Con*tract", 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.

Years contracting to a moment. --Wordsworth.

2. To make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain;
as, to contract for carrying the mail.


Con"tract, a.
Contracted; as, a contract verb. --Goodwin.


Con*tract", a. [L. contractus, p. p.]
Contracted; affianced; betrothed. [Obs.] --Shak.


Con"tract, 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.

2. A formal writing which contains the agreement of parties,
with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof
of the obligation.

3. The act of formally betrothing a man and woman.

This is the the night of the contract. --Longwellow.

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

Synonyms: abbreviate, abridge, compact, compress, constrict, contract bridge, cut, declaration, fee, foreshorten, get, narrow, press, reduce, shorten, shrink, sign, sign on, sign up, squeeze, take, undertake

Antonyms: stretch, widen

See Also: acquisition agreement, adhesion contract, aleatory contract, alter, arbitration clause, articles of agreement, assure, astringe, bear down, bid, bidding, bilateral contract, boilerplate, bottleneck, bowdlerise, bowdlerize, bridge, bridge, castrate, change, charter, charter, choke, collective agreement, come down, concentrate, concession, condense, condition, conditional contract, contract of adhesion, contract of hazard, contract out, contract under seal, convulse, cost-plus contract, covenant, decrease, diminish, distribution agreement, employ, employment agreement, employment contract, engage, expurgate, fall, fine print, flex, fret, gag, gambling contract, grant, hire, hire, indenture, insurance, insurance policy, labor agreement, labor contract, lease, lease, lessen, licensing agreement, marriage contract, marriage settlement, merger agreement, minify, narrow down, output contract, overbear, partnership, pin down, policy, prim, promise, purchase agreement, purchase contract, purse, qualify, quasi contract, reduce, rent, requirements contract, sale in gross, scrag, sealed instrument, service contract, severable contract, shipping articles, shrink, sicken, sign, small print, special contract, specialise, specialize, specify, stipulate, strangle, strangulate, subcontract, taper off, tighten, wrinkle, written agreement

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