contact
Americannoun
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the act or state of touching; a touching or meeting, as of two things or people.
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immediate proximity or association.
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an acquaintance, colleague, or relative through whom a person can gain access to information, favors, influential people, and the like.
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Electricity. a junction of electric conductors, usually metal, that controls current flow, often completing or interrupting a circuit.
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Geology. the interface, generally a planar surface, between strata that differ in lithology or age.
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Medicine/Medical. a person who has lately been exposed to an infected person.
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Sociology. a condition in which two or more individuals or groups are placed in communication with each other.
verb (used with object)
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to put or bring into contact.
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to communicate with.
We'll contact you by mail or telephone.
verb (used without object)
adjective
noun
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the act or state of touching physically
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the state or fact of close association or communication (esp in the phrases in contact, make contact )
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a junction of two or more electrical conductors
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the part of the conductors that makes the junction
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the part of an electrical device to which such connections are made
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an acquaintance, esp one who might be useful in business, as a means of introduction, etc
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any person who has been exposed to a contagious disease
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photog See contact print
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(usually plural) an informal name for contact lens
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(modifier) of or relating to irritation or inflammation of the skin caused by touching the causative agent
contact dermatitis
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(modifier) denoting an insecticide or herbicide that kills on contact, rather than after ingestion or absorption
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(modifier) of or maintaining contact
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(modifier) requiring or involving (physical) contact
the contact sport of boxing
verb
interjection
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Electricity
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A connection between two conductors that allows an electric current to flow.
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A part or device that makes or breaks a connection in an electrical circuit.
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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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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contactsimple
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contactssimple
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have contactedperfect
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has contactedperfect
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am contactingprogressive
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are contactingprogressive
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is contactingprogressive
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have been contactingperfect progressive
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has been contactingperfect progressive
Past
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contactedsimple
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had contactedperfect
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was contactingprogressive
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were contactingprogressive
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had been contactingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing contact
"Thank You, M'am"
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Common Senses: Tact, Tang ("Touch")
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"High School Football"
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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:
He shrugged off Argentina's obvious attempts to intimidate him as he regularly came into close contact with Nicolas Tagliafico in particular.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
And fans were advised not to contact the rescue agency: “They do not have the resources.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
It is not known whether DeChambeau made contact with Trump privately, but on Saturday R&A chief executive Mark Darbon was asked whether the President had been in touch.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
When supported by both hind legs and the tail, the animal would have formed a tripodal stance, meaning that three points of contact helped stabilize its body.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
His eyes flick up to meet mine for a second before they drop again, and that flash of eye contact makes me braver.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Handing down the 38-month sentence, Judge Dabney Friedrich cited Rogers’s senior role at the Fed and a “pattern of sharing” sensitive information with contacts in China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
The Fed’s beige book is a collection of anecdotes from the central bank’s contacts across the country and is designed to give officials a sense of conditions on the ground before they meet.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
Hywel Dda health board said extra infection prevention and control measures had been put in place on the ward, including "enhanced monitoring, treatment of identified contacts and ongoing support from specialist teams".
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
More than 10,000 contacts of infected people are being monitored, at a follow-up rate of 82 percent.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
I brush my teeth, splash some water on my face, and put in a new pair of my Warcross contacts.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
The BBC has contacted Healy and Bechtel for comment.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
Mr. Bolton contacted the Biden Administration in 2021, though he wasn’t obliged to.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
He said he contacted Laos' foreign minister over the years to "insist on a thorough investigation to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice".
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
BBC Sport has contacted the White House for comment.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
They'd gotten his number from Krazy Keith, who they'd contacted because of his scholarly articles about prodigy.
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
Topp recommends contacting the recreation department or high-school association for information and contacts regarding the certification requirements in the desired sport.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Virgin Media apologised to "the small proportion who experienced an issue when contacting us to agree a new deal or cancel their service in the past".
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Hopkins registered the trademark in 2018 and began contacting authors who had also used the descriptor — and the list was long, because the cocky, arrogant hero is a romance trope.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
"These images started spreading like wildfire... and then the media started contacting me for a response."
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
She could try contacting someone with Daedalus’s laptop, but she doubted she could get a signal down here.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
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.
