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contraction

/kɒnˈtɹæk.ʃən/

noun

Meaning

  • A reversible reduction in size.

  • A period of economic decline or negative growth.

    "The country's economic contraction was caused by high oil prices."

  • A shortening of a muscle when it is used.

  • A strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth.

  • A process whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme (a word) are lost or reduced, such that it becomes a bound morpheme (a clitic) that attaches phonologically to an adjacent word.

    "In English didn't, that's, and wanna, the endings -n't, -'s, and -a arose by contraction."

  • (English orthography) A word with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe, usually resulting from the above process.

    ""Don't" is a contraction of "do not.""

  • A shorthand symbol indicating an omission for the purpose of brevity.

  • The process of contracting a disease.

    "the contraction of malaria"

  • Syncope, the loss of sounds from within a word.

  • The acquisition of something, generally negative.

    "Our contraction of debt in this quarter has reduced our ability to attract investors."

  • A distinct stage of wound healing, wherein the wound edges are gradually pulled together.