Contracture

//kənˈtɹæktjʊə(ɹ)// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An abnormal, sometimes permanent, contraction of a muscle or skin; a deformity so caused. countable, uncountable

    "Even if in the initial phase of acute hand burn injury all treatment measures have been executed properly, postburn deformities still occur and are the most common cause of skin contracture in the hand. Postburn scarring and contractures affect the function as well as the aesthetic appearance of the hand and remain the most frustrating late complication of a hand burn."

  2. 2
    an abnormal and usually permanent contraction of a muscle wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
abbreviationastringencybottleneckcervixcircumscriptioncompression

Example

More examples

"Even if in the initial phase of acute hand burn injury all treatment measures have been executed properly, postburn deformities still occur and are the most common cause of skin contracture in the hand. Postburn scarring and contractures affect the function as well as the aesthetic appearance of the hand and remain the most frustrating late complication of a hand burn."

Etymology

From French contracture, from Latin contractura.

Related phrases

Dupuytren's contracturelethal congenital contracture syndrome

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.