Contract
Contract (kon*trakt") , transitive verb
[Latin contractus, past participle of contrahere to contract; con- + trahere to draw: compare French contracter. See Trace, and compare 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.
2.
To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.
Thou didst contract and purse thy brow.
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.
Such behavior we contract by having much conversed with persons of high station.
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.
Many persons... had contracted marriage within the degrees of consanguinity... prohibited by law.
5.
To betroth; to affiance.
The truth is, she and I, long since contracted,
Are now so sure, that nothing can dissolve us.
6.
(Grammar) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
Contract (kon*trakt") , intransitive verb
1.
To be drawn together so as to be diminished in size or extent; to shrink; to be reduced in compass or in duration; as, iron contracts in cooling; a rope contracts when wet.
Years contracting to a moment.
2.
To make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain; as, to contract for carrying the mail.
Contract (kon"trakt) , adjective
Contracted; as, a contract verb. — Goodwin
Contract (kon*trakt") , adjective
[Latin contractus, p. p.]
Contracted; affianced; betrothed. [Obsolete] — Shakespeare
Contract (kon"trakt) , noun
[Latin contractus, from contrahere: compare French contrat, formerly also contract.]
1.
(Law) The agreement of two or more persons, upon a sufficient consideration or cause, to do, or to abstain from doing, some act; an agreement in which a party undertakes to do, or not to do, a particular thing; a formal bargain; a compact; an interchange of legal rights. — Wharton
2.
A formal writing which contains the agreement of parties, with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof of the obligation.
3.
The act of formally betrothing a man and woman.
This is the the night of the contract.