Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounSenses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract.
nounSenses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract., An act of incurring debt; also (generally), an act of acquiring something (generally negative).
Sentence Examples
An obstetrician estimates the progress of childbirth by measuring the time between each contraction.
During the cold weather, the metal rod experienced a noticeable ____ in length.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
An obstetrician estimates the progress of childbirth by measuring the time between each ____.
Word Origin & History
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).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 2020 April 8, David Turner, “How Railway Staff were Conduits and Victims of a Pandemic”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 32:
"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."
— 2011, Laurence Street, Introduction to Biomedical Engineering Technology, second edition (hardcover), Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 125: