Pronunciations (7)
-
/kənˈtɹækʃn̩/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
-
/kənˈtɹakʃn̩/
Pronunciation notes
- British
- Southern
- Standard
-
/kənˈtɹækʃ(ə)n/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
-
/kənˈtɾakʃn̩/
Pronunciation notes
- Scotland
-
/kənˈtɾakʃn̩/
Pronunciation notes
- Wales
-
kɒnˈtɹæk.ʃən
Pronunciation notes
- GB
-
kənˈtɹæk.ʃən
Pronunciation notes
- US
Noun
Senses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract. An act of incurring debt; also (generally), an act of acquiring something (generally negative).
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
-
Our contraction of debt in this quarter has reduced our ability to attract investors.
Senses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract. An act of entering into a contract or agreement; specifically, a contract of marriage; a contracting; also (obsolete), a betrothal.
Usage- Archaic
- Countable
- Uncountable
Senses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract. The process of contracting or becoming infected with a disease.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
-
the contraction of malaria
More examples (1)
Railway workers were therefore a perfect subject for research, given the varied roles they undertook. If infection was greatest among the non-public-facing staff, it would suggest – given most worked outside – that contraction was caused by something found in the "atmosphere at large". If affliction was higher among the indoor and public-facing staff, it would suggest that human contact was the cause. And it was the latter point that was proven.
Senses relating to pulling together or shortening. A (sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume; a narrowing, a shortening, a shrinking. An abridgement or shortening of writing, etc.; an abstract, a summary; also (uncountable), brevity, conciseness.
Usage- Archaic
- Countable
- Obsolete
- Uncountable
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
Senses relating to pulling together or shortening. A (sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume; a narrowing, a shortening, a shrinking. A stage of wound healing during which the wound edges are gradually pulled together.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Antonyms
Senses relating to pulling together or shortening. A (sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume; a narrowing, a shortening, a shrinking. A shortening of a muscle during its use; specifically, a strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Antonyms
- Examples
-
More examples (1)
Though occasionally a “flatliner” can be revived with a defib, it is most commonly used to change the uncoordinated contractions of the heart (fibrillation) into a normal sinus rhythm—that is, to defibrillate the heart.
Senses relating to pulling together or shortening. A (sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume; a narrowing, a shortening, a shrinking. A period of economic decline or negative growth.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Antonyms
- Examples
-
The country’s economic contraction was caused by high oil prices.
Senses relating to pulling together or shortening. A (sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume; a narrowing, a shortening, a shrinking. A process whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme (a word) are reduced or lost, such that it becomes a bound morpheme (a clitic) that attaches phonologically to an adjacent word.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Antonyms
- Examples
-
In the English words didn’t, that’s, and wanna, the endings -n’t, -’s, and -a arose by contraction.
Senses relating to pulling together or shortening. A (sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume; a narrowing, a shortening, a shrinking. In the English language: a shortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Antonyms
- Examples
-
Don’t is a contraction of do not; and ’til is a contraction of until.
You would not use "it's" in this case / As a possessive (No, no, no) / It's a contraction (Yeah, ye)
Senses relating to pulling together or shortening. A (sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume; a narrowing, a shortening, a shrinking. Synonym of syncope (“the elision or loss of a sound from the interior of a word, especially of a vowel sound with loss of a syllable”).
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Antonyms
Senses relating to pulling together or shortening. A (sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume; a narrowing, a shortening, a shrinking. The preimage of the given ideal under the given homomorphism.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- of an ideal in the codomain of a ring homomorphism
- Antonyms
Senses relating to pulling together or shortening. A (sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume; a narrowing, a shortening, a shrinking. A shorthand symbol indicating an omission for the purpose of brevity.
Usage- broadly
- Countable
- Uncountable
- Antonyms
Senses relating to pulling together or shortening. An act of collecting or gathering.
Usage- Countable
- Obsolete
- Rare
- Uncountable
Noun
(physiology) a shortening or tensing of a part or organ (especially of a muscle or muscle fiber)
- Broader terms
the process or result of becoming smaller or pressed together
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
the contraction of a gas on cooling
a word formed from two or more words by omitting or combining some sounds
- Broader terms
- Examples
-
‘won't’ is a contraction of ‘will not’
‘o'clock’ is a contraction of ‘of the clock’
the act of decreasing (something) in size or volume or quantity or scope
- Antonyms
- Broader terms