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.

---

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

---

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.

---

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

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

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

Brewers reliever JoJo Romero threw him one low and away in Game 2, and Ohtani lost his bat as he lunged to make contact.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

And a "Stop Smart Glasses" campaign in Britain and Ireland has launched a petition and call for supporters to contact stores to stop their sale.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

The proposed standard would still require full-time faculty to teach more than half of all credit hours offered by a law school or two-thirds of what law schools call “student contact hours.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Researchers at the University of Vienna discovered that a massive reorganization of DNA hundreds of millions of years ago brought previously separated genetic regions into contact.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

He emerged five minutes later, unable to make eye contact with any of us.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

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

Once TCIP3 brought the proteins together, they formed several additional chemical contacts with one another.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

They are also trying to trace 57 other contacts of the Kenyan patient after he travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo, dying in hospital in Nairobi on Monday.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Russian authorities have placed her contacts under close medical observation as they try to determine how she died.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

He was also disappointed that no job openings existed, despite his contacts.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

The woman contacted her 72-year-old father, who came out of the house to remove Gonzalez.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

The BBC has contacted local police and fire authorities, as well as park officials.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

No one who was contacted knows the sailor’s identity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

The business said it had contacted Clarkson privately in hopes of resolving the disagreement.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

As she continued her schooling and contacted Pickie’s spirit, Kate looked for opportunities to escape Mary’s oppressive home.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Aubry noted she last spoke to her brother a day after the alleged September incident and that he did not seem upset, and that the current restraining order prohibits her from contacting her brother.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

According to the order reviewed by The Times, Berry is prohibited from contacting Martinez, 60, and their son Maceo beyond the terms of her August 2023 split-custody agreement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Hirst also made a restraining order which prevents McEvoy contacting the children.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

After contacting Martin-Baker, Bath was informed the offer was legitimate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

We would spend our time on the savables, contacting them and trying to win them over to our cause.

From "The Lions of Little Rock" by Kristin Levine

Related Words

• approach
• call
• connect
• phone
• reach
• talk
• telephone
• visit