contract

American  

[kon-trakt, kuhn-trakt] / ˈkɒn trækt, kənˈtrækt /

noun

1. an agreement between two or more parties for the doing or not doing of something specified.

2. an agreement enforceable by law.

3. the written form of an agreement enforceable by law.

4. the division of law dealing with contracts.

5. Also called contract bridge.  a variety of bridge in which the side that wins the bid can earn toward game only that number of tricks named in the contract, additional points being credited above the line.

6. (in auction or contract bridge)

   1. a commitment by the declarer and their partner to take six tricks plus the number specified by the final bid made.

   2. the final bid that specifies the number of tricks to which players must commit.

   3. the number of tricks to which players are committed, plus six.

7. the formal agreement of marriage; betrothal.

8. Slang. an arrangement for a hired assassin to kill a specific person.

---

adjective

1. under an agreement enforceable by law; governed or arranged by special legal agreement.

   As a contract carrier with us, you'll have access to more loads than with any other provider in North America.

verb (used with object)

1. to draw together; make shorter, thinner, narrower, etc..

   In order to contract a muscle, the opposite muscle group has to be relaxed.

   Synonyms:

   shrink, shrivel, narrow, lessen, shorten, reduce

   Antonyms:

   expand

2. to shorten (a word, phrase, etc.) by combining or omitting some of its elements.

   Contracting “do not” yields “don't.”

3. to get or acquire, as by exposure to something contagious.

   I contracted malaria but didn't recognize the symptoms at first.

4. to incur, as a liability or obligation.

   He was very extravagant at college, and contracted many debts.

5. to settle or establish by agreement.

   Bismarck contracted an alliance with Austria to counteract Russian designs in Eastern Europe.

6. to assign (a job, work, project, etc.) by contract.

   The publisher contracted the artwork.

7. to enter into an agreement with.

   We contracted a freelancer to do the editing.

8. to enter into (friendship, acquaintance, etc.).

9. to betroth.

10. to wrinkle.

    to contract the brows.

verb (used without object)

1. to become reduced in length, width, thickness, etc., by drawing together; become smaller.

   The pupils of his eyes contracted in the light.

2. to enter into an agreement.

   We contracted to have the books printed and bound by Willow Press.

verb phrase

1. contract out to hire an outside contractor to produce or do.

idioms

1. put out a contract on, to hire or attempt to hire an assassin to kill (someone).

   The mob put out a contract on the informer.

contract British  

verb

1. to make or become smaller, narrower, shorter, etc

   metals contract as the temperature is reduced

2. to enter into an agreement with (a person, company, etc) to deliver (goods or services) or to do (something) on mutually agreed and binding terms, often in writing

3. to draw or be drawn together; coalesce or cause to coalesce

4. (tr) to acquire, incur, or become affected by (a disease, liability, debt, etc)

5. (tr) to shorten (a word or phrase) by the omission of letters or syllables, usually indicated in writing by an apostrophe

6. phonetics to unite (two vowels) or (of two vowels) to be united within a word or at a word boundary so that a new long vowel or diphthong is formed

7. (tr) to wrinkle or draw together (the brow or a muscle)

8. (tr) to arrange (a marriage) for; betroth

---

noun

1. a formal agreement between two or more parties

2. a document that states the terms of such an agreement

3. the branch of law treating of contracts

4. marriage considered as a formal agreement

5. See contract bridge

6. bridge

   1. (in the bidding sequence before play) the highest bid, which determines trumps and the number of tricks one side must try to make

   2. the number and suit of these tricks

7. slang

   1. a criminal agreement to kill a particular person in return for an agreed sum of money

   2. ( as modifier )

      a contract killing

contract Cultural  

1. A legally binding agreement between two or more parties.

---

Related Words

See agreement. Contract, compress, concentrate, condense imply retaining original content but reducing the amount of space occupied. Contract means to cause to draw more closely together: to contract a muscle. Compress suggests fusing to become smaller by means of fairly uniform external pressure: to compress gases into liquid form. Concentrate implies causing to gather around a point: to concentrate troops near an objective; to concentrate one's strength. Condense implies increasing the compactness, or thickening the consistency of a homogeneous mass: to condense milk. It is also used to refer to the reducing in length of a book or the like.

Other Word Forms

• contractee noun
• contractibility noun
• contractible adjective
• contractibleness noun
• contractibly adverb
• noncontract adjective
• overcontract verb (used with object)
• postcontract noun
• recontract verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of contract

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English noun contract, contrait, from Old French, from Latin contractus “undertaking a transaction, agreement” (equivalent to contrac-, stem of contrahere “to draw in, bring together, enter into an agreement” + -tus verbal noun suffix); the verb is from Latin contractus, past participle of contrahere

Explanation

When you and someone else have agreed on something and that agreement is both binding and enforceable by law, you have a contract. When you rent an apartment, you and your future landlord sign a rental contract. You can also use the word in this sense as a verb meaning "to hire." Wouldn't you like to contract someone to clean your room for you? In other verbal uses of contract, place the accent on the second syllable — kun-TRAKT. If you contract a disease, you catch it, but only use this if it's something serious. You catch a cold, but contract malaria. Contract also means "shrink." When the economy contracts, consumers stop buying things, and people lose their jobs.

Example Sentences

These airports, the largest being San Francisco International, were spared the 2026 shutdown chaos because contract screeners continued to be paid outside the federal payroll system.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Social media allowed Salgado to cultivate a loyal readership by sharing her poetry for free before even signing her first publishing contract for her book, “Corazón.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

I understand that moral intuition and agree that passing off A.I.-generated prose as one’s own breaks the writer-reader contract.

From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026

Others say the problem runs deeper, pointing to weak protections for contract workers and poor conditions in sectors where workers have little or no union representation.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

Marshall investigated a possible injunction to stop publication of the work since according to Bobby, Darrach had allegedly violated his contract: Supposedly, he’d agreed to write only articles about Bobby, not a book.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

• arrangement
• bargain
• bond
• commitment
• guarantee
• obligation
• pact
• pledge
• record
• settlement