contractile
[kuh n-trak-tl, -til]
- capable of contracting or causing contraction.
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Origin of contractile
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for contractility
Historical Examples
Galvanism was tried without the patient showing any contractility.
The contractility of the nerves was so strong that it could not be taken from him.
Thunder and LightningCamille Flammarion
It is produced by a loss of contractility of the intestinal wall.
The cell substance is irritable, and is endowed with the power of contractility.
The Story of the Living MachineH. W. Conn
We will close with a comparison between Glisson's irritability, and Bichat's contractility.
contractile
- having the power to contract or to cause contraction
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for contractility
contractile
adj.
1706, from French contractile, from Latin contract-, past participle stem of contrahere (see contract (n.)). Related: Contractility. Contractile vacuole is from 1877.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
contractile
(kən-trăk′təl, -tīl′)- Capable of contracting or causing contraction, as a tissue.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.