Definitions for contract
n., adj., and usu. for v. 16–18, 22, 23 ˈkɒn trækt; otherwise v. kənˈtræktcon·tract

Princeton's WordNet(2.64 / 11 votes)Rate this definition:

1. contractnoun

   a binding agreement between two or more persons that is enforceable by law

2. contract, declarationnoun

   (contract bridge) the highest bid becomes the contract setting the number of tricks that the bidder must make

3. contract, contract bridgeverb

   a variety of bridge in which the bidder receives points toward game only for the number of tricks he bid

4. contract, undertakeverb

   enter into a contractual arrangement

5. sign, contract, sign on, sign upverb

   engage by written agreement

   "They signed two new pitchers for the next season"

6. compress, constrict, squeeze, compact, contract, pressverb

   squeeze or press together

   "she compressed her lips"; "the spasm contracted the muscle"

7. contract, take, getverb

   be stricken by an illness, fall victim to an illness

   "He got AIDS"; "She came down with pneumonia"; "She took a chill"

8. shrink, contractverb

   become smaller or draw together

   "The fabric shrank"; "The balloon shrank"

9. contractverb

   make smaller

   "The heat contracted the woollen garment"

10. condense, concentrate, contractverb

    compress or concentrate

    "Congress condensed the three-year plan into a six-month plan"

11. narrow, contractverb

    make or become more narrow or restricted

    "The selection was narrowed"; "The road narrowed"

12. abridge, foreshorten, abbreviate, shorten, cut, contract, reduceverb

    reduce in scope while retaining essential elements

    "The manuscript must be shortened"

Webster Dictionary(5.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Contractnoun

   to draw together or nearer; to reduce to a less compass; to shorten, narrow, or lessen; as, to contract one's sphere of action

   Etymology: [L. contractus, p. p.]

2. Contractnoun

   to draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit

   Etymology: [L. contractus, p. p.]

3. Contractnoun

   to bring on; to incur; to acquire; as, to contract a habit; to contract a debt; to contract a disease

   Etymology: [L. contractus, p. p.]

4. Contractnoun

   to enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for

   Etymology: [L. contractus, p. p.]

5. Contractnoun

   to betroth; to affiance

   Etymology: [L. contractus, p. p.]

6. Contractnoun

   to shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one

   Etymology: [L. contractus, p. p.]

7. Contractverb

   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

   Etymology: [L. contractus, p. p.]

8. Contractverb

   to make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain; as, to contract for carrying the mail

   Etymology: [L. contractus, p. p.]

9. Contractadjective

   contracted; as, a contract verb

   Etymology: [L. contractus, p. p.]

10. Contractadjective

    contracted; affianced; betrothed

    Etymology: [L. contractus, p. p.]

11. Contractnoun

    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

    Etymology: [L. contractus, p. p.]

12. Contractnoun

    a formal writing which contains the agreement of parties, with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof of the obligation

    Etymology: [L. contractus, p. p.]

13. Contractnoun

    the act of formally betrothing a man and woman

    Etymology: [L. contractus, p. p.]

Freebase(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Contract

   A contract is an agreement having a lawful object entered into voluntarily by two or more parties, each of whom intends to create one or more legal obligations between them. The elements of a contract are "offer" and "acceptance" by "competent persons" having legal capacity who exchange "consideration" to create "mutuality of obligation." Proof of some or all of these elements may be done in writing, though contracts may be made entirely orally or by conduct. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" in the form of compensation of money or specific performance enforced through an injunction. Both of these remedies award the party at loss the "benefit of the bargain" or expectation damages, which are greater than mere reliance damages, as in promissory estoppel. The parties may be natural persons or juristic persons. A contract is a legally enforceable promise or undertaking that something will or will not occur. The word promise can be used as a legal synonym for contract, although care is required as a promise may not have the full standing of a contract, as when it is an agreement without consideration. Contract law varies greatly from one jurisdiction to another, including differences in common law compared to civil law, the impact of received law, particularly from England in common law countries, and of law codified in regional legislation. Regarding Australian Contract Law for example, there are 40 relevant acts which impact on the interpretation of contract at the Commonwealth level, and an additional 26 acts at the level of the state of NSW. In addition there are 6 international instruments or conventions which are applicable for international dealings, such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Contract

   kon-trakt′, v.t. to draw together: to lessen: to shorten: to acquire: to incur: to bargain for: to betroth.—v.i. to shrink: to become less.—n. Con′tract, an agreement on fixed terms: a bond: a betrothment: the writing containing an agreement.—adj. Contract′ed, drawn together: narrow: mean.—adv. Contract′edly.—ns. Contract′edness; Contractibil′ity, Contract′ibleness.—adjs. Contract′ible, capable of being contracted; Contract′ile, tending or having power to contract.—ns. Contractil′ity; Contrac′tion, act of contracting: a word shortened by rejecting a part of it: a symbol for shortening in palæography, &c.—adj. Contract′ive, tending to contract.—n. Contract′or, one of the parties to a bargain or agreement: one who engages to execute work or furnish supplies at a fixed rate.—adj. Contract′ual.—Contract one's self out of, to get rid of some general obligation by making a special contract; Contract work, work done for a fixed sum estimated beforehand and paid down for the whole job. [L. contractus—con, together, trahĕre, to draw.]

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

1. contract

   To agree and create a fair, just, concise and transparent commitment.

   The procurement contracts are simple, concise and transparent.

   Submitted by MaryC on October 21, 2020  

2. contract

   To create a fair, just, concise and transparent agreement.

   They created a contract for their services to another company based on trust, understanding and agreement.

   Submitted by MaryC on February 16, 2020  

Matched Categories

1. • Bid
   • Change
   • Contract
   • Decrease
   • Shrink
   • Written Agreement

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'contract' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #867

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'contract' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1156

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'contract' in Nouns Frequency: #249

4. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'contract' in Verbs Frequency: #822

How to pronounce contract?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say contract in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of contract in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of contract in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of contract in a Sentence

1. Noah Bookbinder:

   As we view it, for four years Donald Trump violated the terms of that agreement by having a federal office holder benefit from that contract. There should be consequences of that.

2. Dwight Aakre:

   The industry needs to contract, but if the farmer contracts he makes (his) situation worse.

3. Randy Kessler:

   If you want the money back, absolutely you should get it in writing and there should be a contract.

4. Michael Nathanson:

   We're in a bit of a transitional period where the contracts that were struck did not anticipate this type of change in strategy, i would think going forward from this point on every new contract will have to include language that figures out a way to compensate the talent for the potential of a direct-to-video, a direct-to-streaming watch.

5. Jeff Fager:

   Instead, they terminated my contract early because I sent a text message to one of our CBS reporters demanding that she be fair in covering the story, my language was harsh and, despite the fact that all journalists receive harsh demands for fairness all the time, CBS did not like it.

Images & Illustrations of contract

Popularity rank by frequency of use