Definitions for contact
ˈkɒn tæktcon·tact

Princeton's WordNet(3.00 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. contact(noun)

   close interaction

   "they kept in daily contact"; "they claimed that they had been in contact with extraterrestrial beings"

2. contact, physical contact(noun)

   the act of touching physically

   "her fingers came in contact with the light switch"

3. contact(noun)

   the state or condition of touching or of being in immediate proximity

   "litmus paper turns red on contact with an acid"

4. contact, impinging, striking(noun)

   the physical coming together of two or more things

   "contact with the pier scraped paint from the hull"

5. contact, middleman(noun)

   a person who is in a position to give you special assistance

   "he used his business contacts to get an introduction to the governor"

6. liaison, link, contact, inter-group communication(noun)

   a channel for communication between groups

   "he provided a liaison with the guerrillas"

7. contact, tangency(noun)

   (electronics) a junction where things (as two electrical conductors) touch or are in physical contact

   "they forget to solder the contacts"

8. contact, touch(noun)

   a communicative interaction

   "the pilot made contact with the base"; "he got in touch with his colleagues"

9. contact, contact lens(verb)

   a thin curved glass or plastic lens designed to fit over the cornea in order to correct vision or to deliver medication

10. reach, get through, get hold of, contact(verb)

    be in or establish communication with

    "Our advertisements reach millions"; "He never contacted his children after he emigrated to Australia"

11. touch, adjoin, meet, contact(verb)

    be in direct physical contact with; make contact

    "The two buildings touch"; "Their hands touched"; "The wire must not contact the metal cover"; "The surfaces contact at this point"

GCIDE(2.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Contact(n.)

   (Electricity) A metallic conducting component of an electrical device connected to a circuit within and so situated that it may form a conducting pathway to an external power source or device when contacted by another conductor; as, the contact on a standard light bulb has the shape of a screw for easy insertion into the socket.

   Etymology: [L. contactus, fr. contingere, -tactum, to touch on all sides. See Contingent.]

2. Contact(n.)

   A person who serves to commmunicate information to or from one group to another, whether formally or informally; as, a good Washington reporter has contacts in the White House.

   Etymology: [L. contactus, fr. contingere, -tactum, to touch on all sides. See Contingent.]

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. contact(Noun)

   The act of touching physically.

   Etymology: From contactus, from contingere (to touch on all sides), from tangere (to touch). Used in English since the 17th Century.

2. contact(Noun)

   The establishment of communication (with).

   I haven't been in contact with her for years.

   Etymology: From contactus, from contingere (to touch on all sides), from tangere (to touch). Used in English since the 17th Century.

3. contact(Noun)

   A nodule designed to connect a device with something else.

   Touch the contact to ground and read the number again.

   Etymology: From contactus, from contingere (to touch on all sides), from tangere (to touch). Used in English since the 17th Century.

4. contact(Noun)

   Someone with whom one is in communication.

   The salesperson had a whole binder full of contacts for potential clients.

   Etymology: From contactus, from contingere (to touch on all sides), from tangere (to touch). Used in English since the 17th Century.

5. contact(Noun)

   A contact lens.

   Etymology: From contactus, from contingere (to touch on all sides), from tangere (to touch). Used in English since the 17th Century.

6. contact(Noun)

   a device designed for repetitive connections.

   Etymology: From contactus, from contingere (to touch on all sides), from tangere (to touch). Used in English since the 17th Century.

7. contact(Verb)

   To touch; to come into physical contact with.

   The side of the car contacted the pedestrian.

   Etymology: From contactus, from contingere (to touch on all sides), from tangere (to touch). Used in English since the 17th Century.

8. contact(Verb)

   To establish communication with something or someone

   I am trying to contact my sister.

   Etymology: From contactus, from contingere (to touch on all sides), from tangere (to touch). Used in English since the 17th Century.

Webster Dictionary(4.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Contact(noun)

   a close union or junction of bodies; a touching or meeting

   Etymology: [L. contactus, fr. contingere, -tactum, to touch on all sides. See Contingent.]

2. Contact(noun)

   the property of two curves, or surfaces, which meet, and at the point of meeting have a common direction

   Etymology: [L. contactus, fr. contingere, -tactum, to touch on all sides. See Contingent.]

3. Contact(noun)

   the plane between two adjacent bodies of dissimilar rock

   Etymology: [L. contactus, fr. contingere, -tactum, to touch on all sides. See Contingent.]

Freebase(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Contact

   Contact is a 1997 American science fiction drama film adapted from the Carl Sagan novel of the same name and directed by Robert Zemeckis. Both Sagan and wife Ann Druyan wrote the story outline for the film adaptation of Contact. Jodie Foster portrays the film's protagonist, Dr. Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway, a SETI scientist who finds strong evidence of extraterrestrial life and is chosen to make first contact. The film also stars Matthew McConaughey, James Woods, Tom Skerritt, William Fichtner, John Hurt, Angela Bassett, and David Morse. Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan began working on the film in 1979. Together, they wrote a 100+ page film treatment and set up Contact at Warner Bros. with Peter Guber and Lynda Obst as producers. When the project to make the film became mired in development hell, Sagan published Contact as a novel in 1985 and the film adaptation was rejuvenated in 1989. Roland Joffé and George Miller had planned to direct it, but Joffé dropped out in 1993 and Warner Bros. fired Miller in 1995. Robert Zemeckis was eventually hired to direct, and filming for Contact lasted from September 1996 to February 1997. Sony Pictures Imageworks handled most of the visual effects sequences.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Contact

   kon′takt, n. touching or close union: meeting: (math.) coincidence, as of two curves, in two or more successive points.—adj. Contact′ual, pertaining to contact.—Be in contact (with), to be touching anything; Make contact, to complete an electrical current. [L. conting-ĕre, contactum, to touch—con, wholly, tangĕre, to touch.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. contact

   Brought in contact with, as touching the sides of a ship. In astronomy, bringing a reflected body, as the sun, in contact with the moon or with a star. (See LUNAR DISTANCES, SEXTANT, &c.)

Rap Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. contact(noun)

   In this case it is used to emphasize closeness to the microphone ."A fact, I sing and I rap, I hold this mic contact, critics can step back and analyze" -- K-Os (In Heaven Only Knows)

2. contact(noun)

   Inhaling second hand marijuana smoke. i.e. "He is high off the contact."

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. contact

   A form of connection.

   The contact point on the electronics board was simple.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 31, 2020  

2. contact

   The act of animal or human touch.

   Its natural to choose to contact a person we love.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 31, 2020  

3. contact

   To communicate with.

   They did contact their family regularly and always ensured they saw them regularly too.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 31, 2020  

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'contact' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1725

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'contact' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1519

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'contact' in Nouns Frequency: #574

4. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'contact' in Verbs Frequency: #363

How to pronounce contact?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say contact in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of contact in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of contact in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of contact in a Sentence

1. Herbert Hainer:

   We have not terminated our contract (with the International Association of Athletics Federations), the IAAF (the athletic body) knows exactly where we are going with our policy in terms of doping. We are in very close contact with the IAAF and will watch very closely what they are doing with this problem.

2. Nathan Harman:

   I only saw one person, he sort of snapped up, stood up, and turned around. He looked startled. We made eye contact.

3. Thomas Croci:

   I saw this in Afghanistan when someone would come to us giving their name and tribe and the Afghan partner standing next to me would say, ‘No way, there are small traits an American wouldn’t know. In Western nations, babies get a footprint, a Social Security number and, in some cases, even DNA. In places like Syria or Afghanistan you may never have contact with the government.

4. Brian Hainline:

   When we started talking about return to sport in April, we were envisioning that there would be a continued downward trajectory of Covid-19 new infections and deaths -- that there would be a national surveillance system, national testing and national contact tracing -- that would allow us to really navigate this pandemic into re-socializing both in sport and in the rest of society, and that hasn't happened.

5. Sean Conley:

   One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the president remains symptom-free, i have been in daily contact with the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and White House Coronavirus Task Force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation.

Images & Illustrations of contact

Popularity rank by frequency of use