Contract word meaning and definition

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

\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}.

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