contact

American  

[kon-takt] / ˈkɒn tækt /

noun

• contacts
  plural

1. the act or state of touching; a touching or meeting, as of two things or people.

2. immediate proximity or association.

3. an acquaintance, colleague, or relative through whom a person can gain access to information, favors, influential people, and the like.

4. Electricity. a junction of electric conductors, usually metal, that controls current flow, often completing or interrupting a circuit.

5. Geology. the interface, generally a planar surface, between strata that differ in lithology or age.

6. Medicine/Medical. a person who has lately been exposed to an infected person.

7. Sociology. a condition in which two or more individuals or groups are placed in communication with each other.

8. contact lens.

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verb (used with object)

• contacts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• contacted,
  past participle,  past
• contacting
  present participle

1. to put or bring into contact.

2. to communicate with.

   We'll contact you by mail or telephone.

verb (used without object)

• contacts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• contacted,
  past participle,  past
• contacting
  present participle

1. to enter into or be in contact.

adjective

1. involving or produced by touching or proximity.

   contact allergy.

contact British  

/ kɒnˈtæktjʊəl /

noun

1. the act or state of touching physically

2. the state or fact of close association or communication (esp in the phrases in contact, make contact )

3. 1. a junction of two or more electrical conductors

   2. the part of the conductors that makes the junction

   3. the part of an electrical device to which such connections are made

4. an acquaintance, esp one who might be useful in business, as a means of introduction, etc

5. any person who has been exposed to a contagious disease

6. photog See contact print

7. (usually plural) an informal name for contact lens

8. (modifier) of or relating to irritation or inflammation of the skin caused by touching the causative agent

   contact dermatitis

9. (modifier) denoting an insecticide or herbicide that kills on contact, rather than after ingestion or absorption

10. (modifier) of or maintaining contact

11. (modifier) requiring or involving (physical) contact

    the contact sport of boxing

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verb

1. to put, come, or be in association, touch, or communication

interjection

1. aeronautics (formerly) a call made by the pilot to indicate that an aircraft's ignition is switched on and that the engine is ready for starting by swinging the propeller

contact Scientific  

/ kŏn′tăkt′ /

1. Electricity

   1. A connection between two conductors that allows an electric current to flow.

   2. A part or device that makes or breaks a connection in an electrical circuit.

2. Geology The place where two different types of rock, or rocks of different ages, come together.

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Usage

Many verbs in English have derived from nouns. One can head an organization or toe the mark; butter the bread or bread the cutlet. Hence, grammatically at least, there is no historical justification for the once frequently heard criticism of contact used as a verb meaning “to communicate with”: The managing editor contacted each reporter personally. Despite the earlier objections to it and probably largely because there is no other one-word verb in the language to express the same idea, this use of contact has become standard in all types of speech and writing. Contact as a noun meaning “a person through whom one can gain access to information and the like” is also standard: My contact at the embassy says that the coup has been successful.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noncontact
  noun
• recontact
  noun
• contactual
  adjective
• uncontacted
  adjective
• contactually
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• contacts
  plural

Participles

• contacting
  present
• contacted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• contact
  simple
• contacts
  simple
• have contacted
  perfect
• has contacted
  perfect
• am contacting
  progressive
• are contacting
  progressive
• is contacting
  progressive
• have been contacting
  perfect progressive
• has been contacting
  perfect progressive

Past

• contacted
  simple
• had contacted
  perfect
• was contacting
  progressive
• were contacting
  progressive
• had been contacting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will contact
  simple
• will have contacted
  perfect
• will be contacting
  progressive
• will have been contacting
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of contact

First recorded in 1620–30; from Latin contāctus “a touch,” noun use of past participle of contingere “to touch together, each other, on all sides,” from con- con- + -tingere, combining form of tangere “to touch”; cf. attain, tango

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Explanation

Contact is the act of touching or communicating with someone or something else. The question increasingly isn't whether there is other life in the universe, but how on earth we will ever make contact with it. "To make contact" (the noun) means to establish some form of communication, be it physical, verbal, or some other kind. To contact (the verb) means to establish that communication. If you're looking to contact Madonna, good luck. She's got people whose only job it is to prevent folks like you from making contact with her. Batteries have two contacts, one positive and one negative. They are where the battery makes contact with the thing to which it provides power.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

contact contacts contacted contacting

A Japanese government spokesman said it hadn’t been able to contact Mr. Imai.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

The VAR, Stuart Attwell, decided to support the on-field call of a caution because there was "no secondary scissor action" and contact was "not with the studs".

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

Lobbyists, universities and congressional offices abruptly cut off contact.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

"The female politicians who responded almost ubiquitously reported experiences of either unwanted approaches, persistent unwanted contact from people, or experiences of threats or of assault," she told AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026

“I’ve started a spreadsheet with columns for the person’s name, their relation to Mom, and any contact information we might have.”

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Foma was once part of the Russian elite, so he claims to have a unique set of contacts and constant flow of insider information.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

Of 130 contacts, 128 have been traced and are now in quarantine, it added.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

But as Bass hoped, the county did not secure the database that records contacts with homeless people or the system that matches people to housing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he couldn’t share any comments regarding the announced energy ceasefire as contacts continued, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

My contacts are so dry it’s hard to keep my eyes open.

From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez

Baldwin said that as soon as residents started reporting their duplicate ballots, elections staffers immediately contacted the vendor, which confirmed the evening of Oct.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

She said the accusations were the “ravings of a convicted felon” and that her office was never contacted by the FBI about the matter.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

The DHS, DeepSeek, and the Chinese embassy in Washington DC have been contacted for comment.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

Some POWs contacted him after returning home, offering military secrets for cash.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Wasting no time, Washington contacted Joseph Whipple, Portsmouth’s collector of customs, to seek his help in the matter.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

She says she was immediately sent home from work and suspended, pending a disciplinary hearing, at which she was sacked for gross misconduct because contacting the media was in breach of her contract.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

"Please verify the identity of the person you are looking for before contacting, tagging, or making accusations against someone."

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

After months of contacting Meta, Instagram’s parent company, he said he got no meaningful response.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

“We thank the researchers for contacting us and sharing their findings. We narrowed the permissions on Community sign-in tokens and revoked affected tokens and sessions,” the company said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

The problem was contacting him without the knowledge of anyone who might betray her to her father.

From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks

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Related Words

• approach
• call
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• phone
• reach
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• telephone
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