- (v.i.) 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.
- (n.) To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.
- (n.) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
- (a.) Contracted; affianced; betrothed.
- (a.) Contracted; as, a contract verb.
- (n.) To draw together or nearer; to reduce to a less compass; to shorten, narrow or lessen; as, to contract one's sphere of action.
- (v.i.) To make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain; as, to contract for carrying the mail.
- (n.) To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for.
- (n.) 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.
- (n.) To bring on; to incur; to acquire; as, to contract a habit; to contract a debt; to contract a disease.
- (n.) To betroth; to affiance.
- (n.) The act of formally betrothing a man and woman.
- (n.) A formal writing which contains the agreement of parties, with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof of the obligation.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
| APA | Webster's. (2011). contract. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/contract/definitions/1991039 |
| Chicago | Webster's. 2011. "contract" http://smartdefine.org/contract/definitions/1991039 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | Webster's 2011, contract, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/contract/definitions/1991039>. |
| MLA | Webster's. "contract" 27 May 2011. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/contract/definitions/1991039> |