noun
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a person or firm that contracts to supply materials or labour, esp for building
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something that contracts, esp a muscle
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law a person who is a party to a contract
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the declarer in bridge
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of contractor
From Late Latin, dating back to 1540–50; see origin at contract, -tor
Explanation
A contractor is someone who is hired to build something. As a contractor at a building site, it is highly recommended you keep your hard hat on at all times. When you think of contractor, you may picture construction sites; however, the word has other meanings as well. Legally, if you sign a contract to perform a specific job then you are what is known as a contractor. When there are not many full-time jobs available for workers, sometimes the only option is to become a freelance contractor, which might mean that you only work part-time or when needed.
Vocabulary lists containing contractor
The Circuit
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Structural Engineering
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -er, -or
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Ben, who also spreads on other farmland as a contractor, says the process is carefully mapped out using the latest technology.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
In a statement to the Tribune, she said her agency was working with a contractor to “remediate” the land.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
She said her father hid the coins while working as an electrical contractor in properties around the town, although Mead's home was one he actually lived in.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Then there was the mystery about why the $52 billion defense contractor was parting ways with the veteran defense executive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Local contractor L. S. Gaillard worked hard to make the needed repairs to the church.
From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry
Following a playbook pioneered by private chefs and interior designers—some of the first types to break out across social media platforms—plumbers, contractors, pool guys and landscape designers have become Instagram- and TikTok-famous.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Fitch cited “existing discord” between the city and the contractors that could lead to further delays in the project and a default on the bonds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
There are few lasting consequences for contractors who fail to deliver, the experts said.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
By contrast, logistics is pretty mundane; the big contractors don’t pine for contracts to build oiler ships, cranes, or commissaries.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
They did not, in the first place, behave at all like contractors.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
