What does "contract" mean?
An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.
Contract
/ˈkɒntɹækt/ adj, noun, verb, slang
adj, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.
- Grammar: contract is listed as adj, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abbreviate, abbreviate, abbreviates, abridge.
- Useful contrasts: bellied, bloated, capacitated.
- Usage evidence: The aggressive salesman urged me to sign the contract right away.
How to use "contract"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "contract" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
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- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "contract" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "contract" as the right word for your sentence.
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "contract" is acting as adj, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
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3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.
"sign a contract"
- 2 a variety of bridge in which the bidder receives points toward game only for the number of tricks they bid wordnet
- 3 An agreement which the law will enforce in some way. A legally binding contract must contain at least one promise, i.e., a commitment or offer, by an offeror to and accepted by an offeree to do something in the future. A contract is thus executory rather than executed.
- 4 a binding agreement between two or more persons that is enforceable by law wordnet
- 5 The document containing such an agreement.
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 (contract bridge) the highest bid becomes the contract setting the number of tricks that the bidder must make wordnet
- 7 A part of legal studies dealing with laws and jurisdiction related to contracts.
- 8 An order, usually given to a hired assassin, to kill someone. informal
"The mafia boss put a contract out on the man who betrayed him."
- 9 The declarer's undertaking to win the number of tricks bid with a stated suit as trump.
Verb
- 1 To draw together or nearer; to shorten, narrow, or lessen. ambitransitive
"The snail’s body contracted into its shell."
- 2 be stricken by an illness, fall victim to an illness wordnet
- 3 To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.
"The word “cannot” is often contracted into “can’t”."
- 4 become smaller or draw together wordnet
- 5 To make an agreement or contract; to covenant. intransitive
"The company contracted with the council to build 200 new houses."
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 reduce in scope while retaining essential elements wordnet
- 7 To enter into a contract with (someone or something). transitive
"We have just contracted new pest control services."
- 8 make or become more narrow or restricted wordnet
- 9 To enter into (an agreement) with mutual obligations; to make (an arrangement). archaic, transitive
"We have contracted an inviolable amitie, peace, and league with the aforesaid Queene."
- 10 compress or concentrate wordnet
- 11 To bring on; to incur; to acquire. transitive
"She contracted the habit of smoking in her teens."
- 12 enter into a contractual arrangement wordnet
- 13 To gain or acquire (an illness). transitive
"At that time, the city [Christiania, now Oslo] was in the grip of a cholera epidemic, and victims were dying at the rate of 60 a day. Bradshaw contracted the disease, and died on September 6 [1853]."
- 14 cause to be smaller wordnet
- 15 To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.
"And didſt contract, and purſe thy brow together, / As if thou then hadſt ſhut vp in thy braine, / Some horrible counſell: […]"
- 16 squeeze or press together wordnet
- 17 To betroth; to affiance.
"The truth is, ſhe and I (long ſince contracted) / Are now ſo ſure that nothing can diſſolve vs: […]"
- 18 engage by written agreement wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Contracted; affianced; betrothed. not-comparable, obsolete
"But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes, feed'st thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel"
- 2 Not abstract; concrete. not-comparable, obsolete
"But now in eche kinde of these, there are certaine nombers named Abſtracte: and other called nombers Contracte."
Antonyms
Example
"The aggressive salesman urged me to sign the contract right away."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "contract"?
Common synonyms include: abbreviate, abbreviate, abbreviates, abridge, abridge, abstract.
How do you use "contract" in a sentence?
The aggressive salesman urged me to sign the contract right away.
How do you pronounce "contract"?
Pronounced /ˈkɒntɹækt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English, from Old French contract, from Latin contractus (noun), from contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”) [from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”)] + -tus (suffix forming nouns from verbs).
Etymology 2
From Middle English, from Middle French contracter, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”), from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”). The verb developed after the noun, and originally meant only "draw together"; the sense "make a contract with" developed later.