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Etymology
From Middle English, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrahere ("to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain"), from con- ("with, together") + trahere ("to draw, to pull").
Pronunciation
Noun
Verb
- enPR: kəntrăkt, IPA: /kənˈtrkt/, SAMPA: /k@n"tr{kt/
- {{http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/En-us-contract-verb2.ogg|Audio (US)}
 Audio (UK) [?]
Noun
contract (plural contracts)
- An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.
- (law) An agreement which the law will enforce in some way. A legally binding contract must contain at least one promise, i.e., a commitment or offer, by an offeror to and accepted by an offeree to do something in the future. A contract is thus executory rather than executed.
- (law) A part of legal studies dealing with laws and jurisdiction related to contracts.
Hypernyms
- (agreement that is legally binding): agreement
Derived terms
- contractual
- fixed-term contract
- contract of employment
Verb
to contract (third-person singular simple present contracts, present participle contracting, simple past and past participle contracted)
- (transitive) To enter into a contract with.
- (transitive) To gain or acquire (an illness).
- (intransitive) To draw together or nearer; to shorten, narrow, or lessen.
The snail's body contracted into its shell.
Synonyms
- (gain or acquire (an illness)): catch, get
- (lessen): abate, decrease, lessen, reduce
- (shorten): shorten, shrink
Antonyms
- (lessen): increase
- (shorten): grow, lengthen
This entry is from Wiktionary - Dictionary and thesaurus. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
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