Dictionary
Find
in
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Translations

Click to move up the list of words
contract
contract bridge
contract grade
contract of employment
contract of purchase
contract out
contractile
contractile vacuole
contraction
contractionary fiscal policy
contractionary monetary policy
contractor
contracts
contractual
contracture
contradance
contradict
Click to move down the list of words
Print Preview
See pronunciation key
Search for "contract..." in all of MSN Encarta
E-mail this entry
Blog about this entry on MSN Spaces
Download the MSN Encarta Right-Click Dictionary

contraction

con·trac·tion [ kən tráksh'n ] (plural con·trac·tions)


noun 
Definition:
 
1. reduction in size: a shrinking or reducing
alternate expansion and contraction

2. contracting of body part: a tightening or narrowing of a muscle, organ, or other body part

3. tightening of womb muscles effecting childbirth: a tightening of the muscles of the womb that occurs at increasingly frequent intervals immediately before childbirth and eventually pushes the baby out of the womb

4. shortened word: a shortened form or shortening of a word or phrase, e.g. "he'll" for "he will." In English, the omitted letter or letters are usually marked with an apostrophe or a period, depending on the type of contraction.


con·trac·tion·al adjective
con·trac·tion·ar·y adjective
con·trac·tive [ kən tráktiv ] adjective
Advertisement

Also on Encarta
Englishtown: Learn English online
Our Partners
Also on MSN
Encarta Message Boards (© Rubberball/Jupiterimages)
MSN Shopping
Upgrade your Encarta experience
Encarta RSS Feeds
© 2008 Microsoft