contractility

[ kon-trak-til-i-tee ]

noun
  1. the property, as of muscle or other tissue, of being able to contract, or draw itself together, reducing its dimensions:Improvements in the contractility of the heart can be measured by a number of different methods to determine how much blood the heart pumps with each beat.

Origin of contractility

1
First recorded in 1710–20; contractil(e) + -ity

Words Nearby contractility

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use contractility in a sentence

  • Passing, now, to the other side of elasticity—i.e., contractility—can we say as much?

    Readings in Money and Banking | Chester Arthur Phillips
  • The case for emergency contractility, however, is somewhat better than the case for ordinary contractility.

    Readings in Money and Banking | Chester Arthur Phillips
  • A second set of cells should form muscle endowed mainly with contractility.

  • It is generally supposed that the upper side of the tendril of Passiflora is devoid of contractility.

  • Many forms are motile—some in virtue of fine thread-like flagella, and others through contractility of the protoplasm.

    Manual of Surgery | Alexis Thomson and Alexander Miles