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The act of squeezing or compressing
“The steady contracting of muscles in the calves and thighs when you're walking helps to squeeze blood back into your heart.”
An act of hiring or employing someone
An act or state of being reduced
Activity one engages in to make a living
Catching a disease or illness
“There are numerous ways to contract the disease that you should be aware of.”
Present participle for to enter into a formal and legally binding agreement
“An importer will contract with us to purchase these goods.”
Present participle for to hire or be hired
“We have decided to contract several engineers to ensure that the project is completed in a timely manner.”
Present participle for to decrease in size, number, or range
“Advice from analysts that the market will contract by several million gives cause for concern.”
Present participle for to decrease or diminish gradually
“The sizes of individual components appear to contract with time.”
Present participle for to shorten (a word or phrase) by combination or elision
“In the eighteenth century, linguists would contract Hocus Pocus into what we refer today as a hoax.”
Present participle for to become liable to pay
“The minister of Finance has the mandate to contract debts for the nation whenever the need arises.”
(of a muscle) Present participle for to become shorter and tighter in order to effect movement of part of the body
“Electrical stimulation is used to cause the heart muscles to contract or pump.”
Present participle for to draw together so as to wrinkle
“She would contract her brow after each bout, and then regurgitate what had become her favorite word.”
Diminishing in level or extent
Causing the contraction of skin cells and other body tissues
Of or relating to a recession
Related Words and Phrases
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