contract

Definitions

1. 1.To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit. Thou didst contract and purse thy brow. Shak.
2. 2.To bring on; to incur; to acquire; as, to contract a habit; to contract a debt; to contract a disease. Each from each contract new strength and light. Pope. Such behavior we contract by having much conversed with persons of high statiSwift.
3. 3.To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for. We have contracted an inviolable amity, peace, and lague with the aforesaid queen. Hakluyt. Many persons . . . had contracted marriage within the degrees of consanguinity . . . prohibited by law. Strype.
4. 4.To betroth; to affiance. The truth is, she and I, long since contracted, Are now so sure, that nothing can dissolve us. Shak.
5. 5.(Gram.) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
6. 6.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. Years contracting to a moment. Wordsworth.
7. 7.To make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain; as, to contract for carrying the mail.
8. 8.Contracted: as, a contract verb. Goodwin.
9. 9.Contracted; affianced; betrothed. [Obs.] Shak.
10. 10.(Law) 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. Wharton.
11. 11.A formal writing which contains the agreement of parties, with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof of the obligation.
12. 12.The act of formally betrothing a man and woman. This is the the night of the contract. Longwellow. See Covenant.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "contract" mean?
• What is another word for "contract"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is contract.

• What is to draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit. Thou didst contract and purse thy brow. Shak called?
• What is to betroth; to affiance. The truth is, she and I, long since contracted, Are now so sure, that nothing can dissolve us. Shak called?
• What is to shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one called?
• What is to make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain; as, to contract for carrying the mail called?
• What is contracted: as, a contract verb. Goodwin called?
• What is contracted; affianced; betrothed. [Obs.] Shak called?
• What is a formal writing which contains the agreement of parties, with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof of the obligation called?
• What is the act of formally betrothing a man and woman. This is the the night of the contract. Longwellow. See Covenant called?