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more about contracting
contracting |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Contract \Con*tract"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Contracted}; p. pr & vb n. {Contracting}.] [L. contractus p. p. of contrahere to contract; con- + trahere to draw: cf F. contracter. See {Trace}, and cf {Contract}, n.] 1. To draw together or nearer; to reduce to a less compass; to shorten, narrow, or lessen; as to contract one's sphere of action In all things desuetude doth contract and narrow our faculties. --Dr. H. More 2. To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit. Thou didst contract and purse thy brow. --Shak. 3. 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 station. --Swift. 4. 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. 5. To betroth; to affiance. The truth is she and I, long since contracted, Are now so sure that nothing can dissolve us --Shak. 6. (Gram.) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one Syn: To shorten; abridge; epitomize; narrow; lessen; condense; reduce; confine; incur; assume. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: contracting n : becomeing infected; "catching cold is sometimes unavoidable"; "the contracting of a serious illness can be financially catastrophic" [syn: {catching}]
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