contraction

noun

Etymology: PIE word *ḱóm From Late Middle English contraccioun, contraxion (“spasm, contraction; constriction, shrinking; act of pressing together”), from Old French contraction (modern French contraction), from Latin contractiō(n) (“a drawing together, contraction; abridgement, shortening; dejection, despondency”), from contrahō (“to draw things together, assemble, collect, gather; to enter into a contract”) + -tiō(n) (suffix forming nouns relating to actions or their results). Contrahō is derived from con- (prefix denoting a bringing together of objects) + trahō (“to drag, pull”) (probably from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to drag, pull; to run”)). By surface analysis, contract + -ion (suffix denoting actions or processes, or their results).

1. Senses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract.

   “Our contraction of debt in this quarter has reduced our ability to attract investors.”

2. Senses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract.
3. Senses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract.

   “the contraction of malaria”

   “Railway workers were therefore a perfect subject for research, given the varied roles they undertook. If infection was greatest among the non-public-facing staff, it would suggest – given most worked outside – that contraction was caused by something found in the "atmosphere at large". If affliction was higher among the indoor and public-facing staff, it would suggest that human contact was the cause. And it was the latter point that was proven.”

4. Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
5. Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
6. Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.

   “Though occasionally a “flatliner” can be revived with a defib, it is most commonly used to change the uncoordinated contractions of the heart (fibrillation) into a normal sinus rhythm—that is, to defibrillate the heart.”

7. Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.

   “The country’s economic contraction was caused by high oil prices.”

8. Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.

   “In the English words didn’t, that’s, and wanna, the endings -n’t, -’s, and -a arose by contraction.”

9. Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.

   “Don’t is a contraction of do not; and ’til is a contraction of until.”

10. Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
11. Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
12. Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
13. Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.