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Contract   /kˈɑntrˌækt/  /kəntrˈækt/   Listen
noun
Contract  n.  
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.
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."
Synonyms: Covenant; agreement; compact; stipulation; bargain; arrangement; obligation. See Covenant.


verb
Contract  v. t.  (past & past part. contracted; pres. part. contracting)  
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."
2.
To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit. "Thou didst contract and purse thy brow."
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." "Such behavior we contract by having much conversed with persons of high station."
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." "Many persons... had contracted marriage within the degrees of consanguinity... prohibited by law."
5.
To betroth; to affiance. "The truth is, she and I, long since contracted, Are now so sure, that nothing can dissolve us."
6.
(Gram.) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
Synonyms: To shorten; abridge; epitomize; narrow; lessen; condense; reduce; confine; incur; assume.


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


adjective
Contract  adj.  Contracted; as, a contract verb.


Contract  adj.  Contracted; affianced; betrothed. (Obs.)





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Contract" Quotes from Famous Books



... sarcumstance, an' I was jes' comm' to de preclushun dat I'd mention it to some ob de fambly, when de fust man, he come to de dooh wid de housekeeper. I was in de shadder and dey didn' see me, but I heah 'im say, kind o' soft like, 'Remember, my deah lady, dis is a biz'ness contract; I does my part, an' I 'spects my pay.' An' she says, 'Oh, yes, yoh shall hab yohr money widout fail.' An' I says to myse'f, 'Mose, yoh ole fool, what you stan'in' heah foh? Dat ain't nuffin dat consarns yoh nohow,' an' I goes home, an' dat's all I know, sah. But I'se ben pow'ful sorry ...
— That Mainwaring Affair • Maynard Barbour
... "How about the contract, sir, between your company and Reade & Hazelton? Contracts can't be broken as lightly as your ...
— The Young Engineers on the Gulf - The Dread Mystery of the Million Dollar Breakwater • H. Irving Hancock
... of being in a hurry," the lawyer said with provoking calmness. "Business is business, you see, and full confidences should never be exchanged in a situation of this kind until a contract is drawn up, signed, sealed, witnessed, and recorded. In other words, I ought to have an understanding and a retainer ...
— Campfire Girls at Twin Lakes - The Quest of a Summer Vacation • Stella M. Francis
... principles, and reasonings, ought to have precluded that surprise which I experienced at the conclusion of his discourse. I knew that he regarded the present institution of marriage as a contract of servitude, and the terms of it unequal and unjust. When my surprise had subsided, my thoughts turned upon the nature of his scheme. After a pause of reflection, ...
— Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist - (A Fragment) • Charles Brockden Brown
... side. At first the shout that was raised terrified them; then weapons assailed them from every side; and, the Etrurians closing, they also were compelled, hemmed in as they now were by a compact body of soldiers, to contract their own circle within a narrower compass; which circumstance rendered striking both their own paucity of numbers, and the superior numbers of the enemy, the ranks being crowded in a narrow space. Then the plan of fighting, which they had directed ...
— The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 • Titus Livius


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