contract

noun

agreement having a lawful object entered into voluntarily by multiple parties
in BDSM, a written agreement between dominant and submissive

L5605 on Wikidata ↗

verb

to draw together or nearer; to become smaller, shorter, tighter; to shrink
to shorten writing by omitting a letter or letters
to enter into a contract with
to bring on, to incur
to get, acquire, or come down with (as a disease)

L5606 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈkɒntɹækt/ / /ˈkɔntɹakt/ / /ˈkɑntɹækt/ / /kənˈtɹækt/

adj

Etymology: From Middle English, from Old French contract, from Latin contractus (noun), from contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”) [from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”)] + -tus (suffix forming nouns from verbs).

Contracted; affianced; betrothed.
“But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes, feed'st thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel”
Not abstract; concrete.
“But now in eche kinde of these, there are certaine nombers named Abſtracte: and other called nombers Contracte.”

noun

An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.
“sign a contract”
“write up a contract”
An agreement which the law will enforce in some way. A legally binding contract must contain at least one promise, i.e., a commitment or offer, by an offeror to and accepted by an offeree to do something in the future. A contract is thus executory rather than executed.
The document containing such an agreement.
A part of legal studies dealing with laws and jurisdiction related to contracts.
An order, usually given to a hired assassin, to kill someone.
“The mafia boss put a contract out on the man who betrayed him.”
The declarer's undertaking to win the number of tricks bid with a stated suit as trump.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English, from Middle French contracter, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”), from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”). The verb developed after the noun, and originally meant only "draw together"; the sense "make a contract with" developed later.

To draw together or nearer; to shorten, narrow, or lessen.
“The snail’s body contracted into its shell.”
“to contract one’s sphere of action”
To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
“The word “cannot” is often contracted into “can’t”.”
To make an agreement or contract; to covenant.
“The company contracted with the council to build 200 new houses.”
To enter into a contract with (someone or something).
“We have just contracted new pest control services.”
To enter into (an agreement) with mutual obligations; to make (an arrangement).
“We have contracted an inviolable amitie, peace, and league with the aforesaid Queene.”
“Many persons […] had contracted marriage within the degrees of consanguinity […] prohibited by law.”
To bring on; to incur; to acquire.
“She contracted the habit of smoking in her teens.”
“to contract a debt”
To gain or acquire (an illness).
“At that time, the city [Christiania, now Oslo] was in the grip of a cholera epidemic, and victims were dying at the rate of 60 a day. Bradshaw contracted the disease, and died on September 6 [1853].”
“An officer contracted hepatitis B and died after handling the blood-soaked clothing of a homicide victim […]”
To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.
“And didſt contract, and purſe thy brow together, / As if thou then hadſt ſhut vp in thy braine, / Some horrible counſell: […]”
To betroth; to affiance.
“The truth is, ſhe and I (long ſince contracted) / Are now ſo ſure that nothing can diſſolve vs: […]”