contractor

American  

[kon-trak-ter, kuhn-trak-ter] / ˈkɒn træk tər, kənˈtræk tər /

noun

• contractors
  plural

1. a person who contracts to furnish supplies or perform work at a certain price or rate.

2. something that contracts, especially a muscle.

3. Bridge. the player or team who makes the final bid.

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contractor British  

/ ˈkɒntræktə, kənˈtræk- /

noun

1. a person or firm that contracts to supply materials or labour, esp for building

2. something that contracts, esp a muscle

3. law a person who is a party to a contract

4. the declarer in bridge

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• contractors
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of contractor

From Late Latin, dating back to 1540–50; see origin at contract, -tor

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

contractor contractors

Kao’s dinner with Graham was part of his grandiose plan to make Navatek a major defense contractor.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

Her son had told her he was working as an electrical contractor and she had no idea he had joined the Russian army in April last year.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

He was meeting with two executives and a lobbyist from a Hawaiian naval defense contractor called Navatek.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

The project contractor now says Skylink won’t be running until January 2027 at the earliest, and cost overruns have driven up the price tag by 74%, to more than $3.3 billion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

Four days later, the contractor who had been selected to build the controversial project suddenly pulled out, citing “fiercer than usual” opposition.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Specialist drainage and containment contractors had been sent to the site and were removing the fuel.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026

Integer was recently recognized as one of the fastest-growing government contractors in the country.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

The initiative invests in and arranges loans for defense contractors, energy suppliers and heavy industrial companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026

"All of the testing and modeling work done at Goddard and by contractors at L3Harris and BAE Space and Mission Systems left only small corrections for us to make to bring everything into near-perfect alignment."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

He’d been in East Anglia with contractors seconded to the army, building coastal defenses, which was why he was so late coming to the hospital.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

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