Contraction
Related Definitions
[n] (physiology) a shortening or tensing of a part or organ (especially of a muscle or muscle fiber)
[n] a word formed from two or more words by omitting or combining some sounds; "`won't' is a contraction of `will not'"; "`o'clock' is a contraction of `of the clock'"
[n] the process or result of becoming smaller or pressed together; "the contraction of a gas on cooling"
Related Terms
abatement, abbreviation, abridgment, alleviation, apocope, aposiopesis, attenuation, brachygraphy, clipping, coarctation, constriction, crasis, cutting, dampening, damping, decrease, decrement, decrescence, deduction, deflation, depreciation, depression,