Meanings
plural contractions
- Senses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract.
- countableuncountablebiologyThe process of contracting or becoming infected with a disease.
the contraction of malaria
1 more example
Railway workers were therefore a perfect subject for research, given the varied roles they undertook. If infection was greatest among the non-public-facing staff, it would suggest – given most worked outside – that contraction was caused by something found in the "atmosphere at large". If affliction was higher among the indoor and public-facing staff, it would suggest that human contact was the cause. And it was the latter point that was proven.
2020 April 8, David Turner, “How Railway Staff were Conduits and Victims of a Pandemic”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 32
- Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
- archaiccountableobsoleteuncountableAn abridgement or shortening of writing, etc.; an abstract, a summary; also (uncountable), brevity, conciseness.
Synonyms: condensation, epitome · Antonyms: dilatation, dilation, expansion
- countableuncountablebiologyA shortening of a muscle during its use; specifically, a strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth.
Though occasionally a “flatliner” can be revived with a defib, it is most commonly used to change the uncoordinated contractions of the heart (fibrillation) into a normal sinus rhythm—that is, to defibrillate the heart.
2011, Laurence Street, Introduction to Biomedical Engineering Technology, second edition (hardcover), Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 125Antonyms: dilatation, dilation, expansion
- countableuncountablehuman sciencesA process whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme (a word) are reduced or lost, such that it becomes a bound morpheme (a clitic) that attaches phonologically to an adjacent word.
In the English words didn’t, that’s, and wanna, the endings -n’t, -’s, and -a arose by contraction.
Antonyms: dilatation, dilation, expansion
- countableuncountablecommunicationsA shortened form of a word; in English the omitted letters are often replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark.
Don’t is a contraction of do not; and ’til is a contraction of until.
1 more example
You would not use "it's" in this case / As a possessive (No, no, no) / It's a contraction (Yeah, ye)
2014, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “Word Crimes”Antonyms: dilatation, dilation, expansion
- countableuncountablering theoryThe preimage of the given ideal under the given homomorphism.
Antonyms: dilatation, dilation, expansion
- broadlycountableuncountableA shorthand symbol indicating an omission for the purpose of brevity.
Antonyms: dilatation, dilation, expansion
- countableobsoleterareuncountableAn act of collecting or gathering.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn abridgement or shortening of writing, etc.; an abstract, a summary; also (uncountable), brevity, conciseness.
nounA stage of wound healing during which the wound edges are gradually pulled together.
nounA shortening of a muscle during its use; specifically, a strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth.
nounA period of economic decline or negative growth.
nounA process whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme (a word) are reduced or lost, such that it becomes a bound morpheme (a clitic) that attaches phonologically to an adjacent word.
nounA shortened form of a word; in English the omitted letters are often replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark.
nounSynonym of syncope (“the elision or loss of a sound from the interior of a word, especially of a vowel sound with loss of a syllable”).
nounThe preimage of the given ideal under the given homomorphism.
nounA shorthand symbol indicating an omission for the purpose of brevity.
More synonyms by meaning
noun(physiology) a shortening or tensing of a part or organ (especially of a muscle or muscle fiber)
nounthe process or result of becoming smaller or pressed together
nounthe act of decreasing (something) in size or volume or quantity or scope
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰregʰ-“to drag, pull; to run”
- Latincontractiō(n)“a drawing together, contraction; abridgement, shortening; dejection, despondency”
- Old Frenchcontraction
- Middle Englishcontraccioun
- Englishcontraction
PIE word *ḱóm From Late Middle English contraccioun, contraxion (“spasm, contraction; constriction, shrinking; act of pressing together”), from Old French contraction (modern French contraction), from Latin contractiō(n) (“a drawing together, contraction; abridgement, shortening; dejection, despondency”), from contrahō (“to draw things together, assemble, collect, gather; to enter into a contract”) + -tiō(n) (suffix forming nouns relating to actions or their results). Contrahō is derived from con- (prefix denoting a bringing together of objects) + trahō (“to drag, pull”) (probably from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to drag, pull; to run”)). By surface analysis, contract + -ion (suffix denoting actions or processes, or their results).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans verkleining
- verkleining(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Bulgarian свиване, контракция
- свиване (svivane)shortening of a muscle during its use
- контракция (kontrakcija)strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- съкращение (săkraštenie)shortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
- скъсяване (skăsjavane)(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
- свиване (svivane)(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Catalan contracció, contracció
- contraccióshortening of a muscle during its use
- contraccióstrong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- contraccióprocess whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost
- contraccióshortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
- contracció(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Chinese Mandarin 收縮 /收缩
- 收縮 /收缩 (shōusuō)(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Danish sammentrækning, sammentrækning
- sammentrækningprocess whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost
- sammentrækningshortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
Dutch wee, samentrekking
- weestrong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- samentrekkingprocess whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost
Finnish tarttuminen, tartunta
- tarttuminenprocess of contracting or becoming infected with a disease
- tartuntaprocess of contracting or becoming infected with a disease
- kontraktiostage of wound healing during which the wound edges are gradually pulled together
- lähentyminenstage of wound healing during which the wound edges are gradually pulled together
- lihassupistusshortening of a muscle during its use
- supistusshortening of a muscle during its use
- supistusstrong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- synnytyssupistusstrong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- taantumaperiod of economic decline or negative growth
- kontraktioprocess whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost
- supistuminenprocess whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost
- kontraktioshortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
French contraction, contraction
- contractionshortening of a muscle during its use
- contractionstrong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- contractionperiod of economic decline or negative growth
- contractionprocess whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost
- contractionshortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
- contraction(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
German Annahme, Erwerb
- Annahmeact of incurring debt; act of acquiring something (generally negative)
- Erwerbact of incurring debt; act of acquiring something (generally negative)
- Infektionact of incurring debt; act of acquiring something (generally negative)
- Kontaminationact of incurring debt; act of acquiring something (generally negative)
- Ansteckungprocess of contracting or becoming infected with a disease
- Erwerbprocess of contracting or becoming infected with a disease
- Infektionprocess of contracting or becoming infected with a disease
- Kontrakturstage of wound healing during which the wound edges are gradually pulled together
- Schrumpfungstage of wound healing during which the wound edges are gradually pulled together
- Kontraktionshortening of a muscle during its use
- Kontrakturshortening of a muscle during its use
- Anspannungshortening of a muscle during its use
Hebrew התכווצות, התכווצות
- התכווצות (hitkavtzut)shortening of a muscle during its use
- התכווצות (hitkavtzut)(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Hungarian fertőzés, fertőződés
- fertőzésprocess of contracting or becoming infected with a disease
- fertőződésprocess of contracting or becoming infected with a disease
- megfertőződésprocess of contracting or becoming infected with a disease
- kontrakcióshortening of a muscle during its use
- izom-összehúzódásshortening of a muscle during its use
- összehúzódásshortening of a muscle during its use
- fájásstrong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- méhösszehúzódásstrong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- szülési fájásstrong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- recesszióperiod of economic decline or negative growth
- visszaesésperiod of economic decline or negative growth
- összevonásprocess whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost
Indonesian kontraksi
- kontraksi(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Italian contrazione, contrazione
- contrazioneprocess whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost
- contrazioneshortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
- contrazione(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Japanese 攣縮, 陣痛
- 攣縮 (renshuku)shortening of a muscle during its use
- 陣痛 (jintsū)strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- 約音化 (yakuon-ka)process whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost
- 短縮形 (tanshuku-kei)shortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
- 収縮 (shūshuku)(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Korean 위축, 단축어
- 위축 (wichuk)shortening of a muscle during its use
- 단축어 (danchugeo)shortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
- 단축 (danchuk)(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Latin contractiō
- contractiō(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Māori kukutinga, kukutinga
- kukutingashortening of a muscle during its use
- kukutingastrong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
Norwegian kontraksjon, sammentrekning
- kontraksjonshortening of a muscle during its use
- sammentrekningshortening of a muscle during its use
- sammentrekningstrong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- sammentrekningshortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
- kontraksjon(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
- forminskning(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Polish kontrakcja, forma ściągnięta
- kontrakcjashortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
- forma ściągniętashortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
Portuguese contração, contração
- contraçãoprocess of contracting or becoming infected with a disease
- contraçãoshortening of a muscle during its use
- crispaçãoshortening of a muscle during its use
- contraçãostrong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- contraçãoprocess whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost
- contraçãoshortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
- contração(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Romanian contracție
- contracție(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Russian сокраще́ние, сжа́тие
- сокраще́ние (sokraščénije)shortening of a muscle during its use
- сжа́тие (sžátije)shortening of a muscle during its use
- сокраще́ние (sokraščénije)strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- сокраще́ние (sokraščénije)shortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
- стяже́ние (stjažénije)shortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
- сокраще́ние (sokraščénije)(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
- сжа́тие (sžátije)(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Spanish contracción, contracción
- contracciónshortening of a muscle during its use
- contracciónstrong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- contracciónprocess whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost
- contracciónshortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
- contracción(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Swedish kontraktion, sammandragning
- kontraktionshortening of a muscle during its use
- sammandragningshortening of a muscle during its use
- sammandragningstrong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth
- sammandragningshortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
- kontraktion(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
- minskning(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Tagalog daginsin
- daginsin(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Thai การหดตัว
- การหดตัว(sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume
Turkish kısaltma, kısaltma
- kısaltmaprocess whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost
- kısaltmashortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
Ukrainian скорочення
- скорочення (skoročennja)shortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
Welsh cyfangiad, cywasgiad
- cyfangiadshortening of a muscle during its use
- cywasgiadprocess whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost
- cywasgiadshortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with contraction
Cite this entry
contraction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contraction
“contraction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contraction. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “contraction,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contraction.
Source: contraction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.