con·tract /ˈkɑnˌtrækt/
 (vt.)收縮;使縮短,感染,訂約,承包,締結 ;合約,婚約,契約,(vi.)訂約,承包


 con·tract /kənˈtrækt , ˈkɑnˌtrækt/ 及物動詞
 收縮,感染


 contract
 合同


 contract
 合約


 Con·tract v. i.
 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.   --Wordsworth.
 2. To make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain; as, to contract for carrying the mail.


 Con·tract a. Contracted; as, a contract verb.


 Con·tract a.  Contracted; affianced; betrothed. [Obs.]


 Con·tract n.
 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.
 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.   --Longwellow.
 Syn: -- Covenant; agreement; compact; stipulation; bargain; arrangement; obligation. See Covenant.

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 Con·tract v. t. [imp. & p. p. Contracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Contracting.]
 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.   --Dr. H. More.
 2. To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.
    Thou didst contract and purse thy brow.   --Shak.
 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.   --Pope.
    Such behavior we contract by having much conversed with persons of high station.   --Swift.
 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.   --Hakluyt.
    Many persons . . . had contracted marriage within the degrees of consanguinity . . . prohibited by law.   --Strype.
 5. To betroth; to affiance.
 The truth is, she and I, long since contracted,
 Are now so sure, that nothing can dissolve us.   --Shak.
 6. Gram. To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
 Syn: -- To shorten; abridge; epitomize; narrow; lessen; condense; reduce; confine; incur; assume.


 contract
      n 1: a binding agreement between two or more persons that is
           enforceable by law
      2: (contract bridge) the highest bid becomes the contract
         setting the number of tricks that the bidder must make
         [syn: declaration]
      3: a variety of bridge in which the bidder receives points
         toward game only for the number of tricks he bid [syn: {contract
         bridge]
      v 1: enter into a contractual arrangement [syn: undertake]
      2: engage by written agreement; "They signed two new pitchers
         for the next season" [syn: sign, sign on, sign up]
      3: squeeze or press together; "she compressed her lips"; "the
         spasm contracted the muscle" [syn: compress, constrict,
          squeeze, compact, press]
      4: become smaller or draw together; "The fabric shrank"; "The
         balloon shrank" [syn: shrink] [ant: expand, stretch]
      5: be stricken by an illness, fall victim to an illness; "He
         got AIDS"; "She came down with pneumonia"; "She took a
         chill" [syn: take, get]
      6: make smaller; "The heat contracted the woollen garment"
      7: compress or concentrate; "Congress condensed the three-year
         plan into a six-month plan" [syn: condense, concentrate]
      8: make or become more narrow or restricted; "The selection was
         narrowed"; "The road narrowed" [syn: narrow] [ant: widen]
      9: reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "The
         manuscript must be shortened" [syn: abridge, foreshorten,
          abbreviate, shorten, cut, reduce] [ant: elaborate]