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contraction |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Contraction \Con*trac"tion\, n. [L. contractio: cf F. contraction.] 1. The act or process of contracting, shortening, or shrinking; the state of being contracted; as contraction of the heart, of the pupil of the eye, or of a tendion; the contraction produced by cold. 2. (Math.) The process of shortening an operation. 3. The act of incurring or becoming subject to as liabilities, obligation, debts, etc.; the process of becoming subject to as the contraction of a disease. 4. Something contracted or abbreviated, as a word or phrase; -- as plenipo for plenipotentiary; crim. con. for criminal conversation, etc 5. (Gram.) The shortening of a word or of two words by the omission of a letter or letters, or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one as ne'er for never can't for can not don't for do not it's for it is 6. A marriage contract. [Obs.] --Shak. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: contraction n 1: (physiology) a shortening or tensing of a part or organ (especially of a muscle or muscle fiber) [ant: {extension}] 2: the process or result of becoming smaller or pressed together: "the contraction of a gas on cooling" [syn: {compression}, {condensation}] 3: a word formed from two or more words by omitting or combining some sounds: "won't" from "will not"; "o'clock" from "of the clock" From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: contraction {reduction}
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