Contact Meaning
/ˈkɑntækt/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe act of touching physically; being in close association.
nounThe establishment of communication (with).
Sentence Examples
We are sorry, the person you are trying to contact is not available.
By studying overseas, students can come into contact with other manners and customs.
I don't have much contact with my uncle.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Direct ____ with the chemical caused a severe skin reaction.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We are sorry, the person you are trying to ____ is not available.
Word Origin & History
From Latin contactus, from contingō (“to touch on all sides”), from tangō (“to touch”). Used in English since the 17th century.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"She mixed furniture with the same fatal profligacy as she mixed drinks, and this outrageous contact between things which were intended by Nature to be kept poles apart gave her an inexpressible thrill."
— 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 1, in Death on the Centre Court:
"In the old days, […] he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"When written information is unavailable and archeological findings are subject to conflicting interpretations, language data frequently provide the only evidence for prehistoric ethnic and cultural contacts."
— 1989 January 26, Werner Winter, “On a new claim concerning substratum influence upon Tocharian”, in Central Asiatic Journal, volume 33, number 1/2, Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISSN, page 126:
"If the pilot […] cannot establish visual contact with the ground, he must immediately execute a missed-approach procedure […]"
— 1983, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Government Activities and Transportation Subcommittee, Hazardous Obstructions at San Francisco Airport, page 126:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
Direct ____ with the chemical caused a severe skin reaction.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We are sorry, the person you are trying to ____ is not available.