contraction

[ kuhn-trak-shuhn ]

noun

1. an act or instance of contracting or the quality or state of being contracted:

   The contraction of the ship’s metal fastenings and consequent snapping of the wood caused cracking sounds during the cold night.

2. a shortened form of a word or group of words, with the omitted letters often replaced in written English by an apostrophe, as e'er for ever, isn't for is not, I'd for I would.
3. Physiology.
   1. the thickening and shortening of a muscle:

      Myosin is a protein in muscles, working together with actin to produce muscle contraction.

   2. one in an often rhythmic series of such muscular changes, especially in the wall of the uterus during labor:

      When I got to the hospital, my labor was in full force with only 10 seconds between contractions.

4. a restriction or withdrawal, as of currency or of funds available as call money.
5. a decrease in economic and industrial activity ( expansion ):

   The contraction that became the Great Depression began in the United States and spread around the globe.

contraction

/ kənˈtrækʃən /

noun

1. an instance of contracting or the state of being contracted
2. physiol any normal shortening or tensing of an organ or part, esp of a muscle, e.g. during childbirth
3. pathol any abnormal tightening or shrinking of an organ or part
4. a shortening of a word or group of words, often marked in written English by an apostrophe

   I've come for I have come

contraction

/ kən-trăk′shən /

1. The shortening and thickening of a muscle for the purpose of exerting force on or causing movement of a body part.
2. See more at muscle

contraction

1. A word produced by running two or more words together and leaving out some of the letters or sounds. For example, isn't is a contraction of is not.

Usage Note

Contractions such as isn't, couldn't, can't, weren't, he'll, they're occur chiefly, although not exclusively, in informal speech and writing. They are common in personal letters, business letters, journalism, and fiction; they are rare in scientific and scholarly writing. Contractions occur in formal writing mainly as representations of speech.

Notes

An apostrophe is generally used in contractions to show where letters or sounds have been left out.

Derived Forms

• conˈtractive, adjective
• conˈtractiveness, noun
• conˈtractively, adverb

Other Words From

• con·trac·tion·al adjective
• non·con·trac·tion noun
• o·ver·con·trac·tion noun
• re·con·trac·tion noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of contraction¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Old French, from Latin contractiōn-, stem of contractiō, equivalent to contract(us) “drawn together, restricted,” past participle of contrahere + -iōn- noun suffix; contract, -ion

Example Sentences

The economy’s deep contraction was heavily driven by services.

From Fortune

When it comes to visualizing expansion and contraction, people often focus on a balloonlike universe whose change in size is described by a “scale factor.”

From Quanta Magazine

In the cyclic universe, however, the smoothing happens during a period of contraction.

From Quanta Magazine

The varying rates of contraction will be most extreme in countries like Thailand, Japan and Spain along with 20 others, where declines could see their populations halved by 2100, a new Lancet report on fertility and population growth scenarios shows.

From Quartz

The expected population contraction will be due to dropping fertility rates with death rates being either at par with or faster than birth rates in several countries.

From Quartz

Side effects may include recession, job contraction, 401(k) bruising, recurrent Dow fluctuation, and IRA bleeding.

From The Daily Beast

“AOL had a history of turmoil—rapid expansion and then rapid contraction,” Bewkes says.

From The Daily Beast

That would place the country in recession, typically defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction...

From The Daily Beast

The resulting credit contraction would be terrible news for the Italian economy.

From The Daily Beast

Darwin considered that this protective contraction “was a fundamental element in several of our most important expressions.”

From The Daily Beast

In fact, incredibly faster, after his once-a-century contraction of short years before.

From Project Gutenberg

I take iowell (with a bar through the ll) to be the usual (Northern) contraction for Iowellis, jewels; F. text, joiau, pl.

From Project Gutenberg

The nick-name of Gigonnet was applied to Bidault on account of a feverish, involuntary contraction of a leg muscle.

From Project Gutenberg

Expansion and contraction broke the high arch and the connexions between the arches.

From Project Gutenberg

Her lowered eyelids had that vague contraction which suggests a tear checked in its course, or a thought suppressed.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• decrease
• deflation
• recession
• reduction
• shrinkage