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⇱ contracted - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

contracted

US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(kən trak′tid)


WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
con•tract•ed  (kən trak′tid),USA pronunciation adj. 
  1. drawn together;
    reduced in compass or size;
    made smaller;
    shrunken.
  2. condensed;
    abridged.
  3. (of the mind, outlook, etc.) narrow or illiberal;
    restricted:a contracted view of human rights.
  • contract + -ed2 1540–50
con•tract′ed•ly, adv. 
con•tract′ed•ness, n. 

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
con•tract / n., adj., and usually for v. 16–18. 22. 23. in Unabridged dictionary ˈkɑntrækt; otherwise v. kənˈtrækt/USA pronunciation   n. 
  1. an agreement between two or more parties for the doing or not doing of something specified, or the written form of such an agreement: [countable]The ballplayer signed another multimillion-dollar contract.[uncountable;
    often: under + ~]    I'm under contract to finish the work by June of next year.
  2. [Slang.]an arrangement for a hired assassin to kill a specific person:[countable]They had a contract out on the rival mobster.

adj. [before a noun]
  1. under contract;
    arranged by special contract:a contract freight carrier.

v. 
  1. to draw together or (cause to) be smaller;
    draw the parts (of) together: [no object]Her pupils contracted in the bright light.[~ + object]The nerves fire and contract the muscle.
  2. Grammar to shorten (a word, etc.) by combining or omitting some of its elements:[~ + object]The word will is contracted to 'll in the word she'll.
  3. [~ + object] to get (an illness), as by exposure to something contagious: Several children contracted Lyme disease.
  4. to get (a debt) as an obligation;
    incur:[~ + object]to contract a debt.
  5. to enter into an agreement with (someone), as to do work by formal contract: [~ + object]We contracted outside workers who would do the job.[~ + with + object]We contracted with nonunion workers to do the job.[~ + to + verb]We contracted to do the job.[~ + object + to + verb]We contracted a freelancer to do the work.
con•tract•ee, n. [countable]
con•tract•i•ble, adj. 
con•trac•tile /kənˈtræktəl/USA pronunciation  adj. See -trac-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
con•tract  (n., adj., and usually for v. 16–18, 22, 23 kon′trakt; otherwise v. kən trakt′),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. an agreement between two or more parties for the doing or not doing of something specified.
  2. an agreement enforceable by law.
  3. the written form of such an agreement.
  4. the division of law dealing with contracts.
  5. Also called con′tract bridge′. a variety of bridge in which the side that wins the bid can earn toward game only that number of tricks named in the contract, additional points being credited above the line. Cf. auction bridge.
  6. (in auction or contract bridge)
    • a commitment by the declarer and his or her partner to take six tricks plus the number specified by the final bid made.
    • the final bid itself.
    • the number of tricks so specified, plus six.
  7. the formal agreement of marriage;
    betrothal.
  8. [Slang.]an arrangement for a hired assassin to kill a specific person.
  9. put out a contract on, [Slang.]to hire or attempt to hire an assassin to kill (someone):The mob put out a contract on the informer.

adj. 
  1. under contract;
    governed or arranged by special contract:a contract carrier.

v.t. 
  1. to draw together or into smaller compass;
    draw the parts of together:to contract a muscle.
  2. to wrinkle:to contract the brows.
  3. to shorten (a word, phrase, etc.) by combining or omitting some of its elements:Contracting "do not'' yields "don't.''
  4. to get or acquire, as by exposure to something contagious:to contract a disease.
  5. to incur, as a liability or obligation:to contract a debt.
  6. to settle or establish by agreement:to contract an alliance.
  7. to assign (a job, work, project, etc.) by contract:The publisher contracted the artwork.
  8. to enter into an agreement with:to contract a free-lancer to do the work.
  9. to enter into (friendship, acquaintance, etc.).
  10. to betroth.

v.i. 
  1. to become drawn together or reduced in compass;
    become smaller;
    shrink:The pupils of his eyes contracted in the light.
  2. to enter into an agreement:to contract for snow removal.
  3. Communications contract out, to hire an outside contractor to produce or do.
  • Latin contractus, past participle of contrahere
  • Latin contractus undertaking a transaction, agreement, equivalent. to contrac-, variant stem of contrahere to draw in, bring together, enter into an agreement (con- con- + trahere to drag, pull; compare traction) + -tus suffix of verb, verbal action; (verb, verbal)
  • Anglo-French)
  • (noun, nominal) Middle English (1275–1325
con′tract•ee′, n. 
con•tract′i•ble, adj. 
con•tract′i•bil′i•ty, con•tract′i•ble•ness, n. 
con•tract′i•bly, adv. 
    1. See agreement. 11. reduce, shorten, lessen, narrow, shrivel, shrink. Contract, compress, concentrate, condense imply retaining original content but reducing the amount of space occupied. Contract means to cause to draw more closely together:to contract a muscle.Compress suggests fusing to become smaller by means of fairly uniform external pressure:to compress gases into liquid form.Concentrate implies causing to gather around a point:to concentrate troops near an objective; to concentrate one's strength.Condense implies increasing the compactness, or thickening the consistency of a homogeneous mass:to condense milk.It is also used to refer to the reducing in length of a book or the like.
    11. expand.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
contract vb /kənˈtrækt/
  1. to make or become smaller, narrower, shorter, etc: metals contract as the temperature is reduced
  2. /ˈkɒntrækt/
    when intr, sometimes followed by for; when tr, may take an infinitive: to enter into an agreement with (a person, company, etc) to deliver (goods or services) or to do (something) on mutually agreed and binding terms, often in writing
  3. to draw or be drawn together; coalesce or cause to coalesce
  4. (transitive) to acquire, incur, or become affected by (a disease, liability, debt, etc)
  5. (transitive) to shorten (a word or phrase) by the omission of letters or syllables, usually indicated in writing by an apostrophe
  6. to unite (two vowels) or (of two vowels) to be united within a word or at a word boundary so that a new long vowel or diphthong is formed
  7. (transitive) to wrinkle or draw together (the brow or a muscle)
  8. (transitive) to arrange (a marriage) for; betroth
 n /ˈkɒntrækt/
  1. a formal agreement between two or more parties
  2. a document that states the terms of such an agreement
  3. the branch of law treating of contracts
  4. marriage considered as a formal agreement
    • (in the bidding sequence before play) the highest bid, which determines trumps and the number of tricks one side must try to make
    • the number and suit of these tricks
  6. slang
    • a criminal agreement to kill a particular person in return for an agreed sum of money
    • (as modifier): a contract killing
Etymology: 16th Century: from Latin contractus agreement, something drawn up, from contrahere to draw together, from trahere to draw
'contracted' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "contracted" in the title:

"A clock" or "a watch" is the contracted form of the other words or expressions ?
A company is contracted by B company
a settlement with miners who <had> contracted silicosis
accident took place on an oil platform that the company was / had been contracted to build...
commissioned/ordered/contracted copyright works
cons'ly [contracted pronunciation of 'constantly']
contracted
Contracted -ing modifying nouns
contracted 'has got': the house's got/Mr Smiths's got/Amy Adams's got
contracted 'have got': my parents've got
contracted and purchased
Contracted auxiliary in Present continuous questions
contracted companies
Contracted Covid/contracted a nasty Covid
Contracted form - Have/Has
contracted form of 'does'
Contracted form of "what was"
contracted form of will with proper names
Contracted forms
Contracted forms : there's and there're
Contracted forms (isn't, can't, doesn't etc) in WR postings
contracted forms at the end of a sentence
Contracted Forms in British Magazines/Newspapers
contracted forms of modal perfect
contracted to Trump up by 1 point
Contracted Translator
contracted-for abandoned whaling stations
Foul must be contracted
go the extra mile delivering the contracted services
had contracted an epicurean dampness
more...

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