social contract

or social compact

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noun

the voluntary agreement among individuals by which, according to any of various theories, as of Hobbes, Locke, or Rousseau, organized society is brought into being and invested with the right to secure mutual protection and welfare or to regulate the relations among its members.

an agreement for mutual benefit between an individual or group and the government or community as a whole.

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Origin of social contract

First recorded in 1840–50

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use social contract in a sentence

He finished second in 2008 behind John McCain, and maintains a reservoir of good will among Republican social conservatives.
Can Huckabee Convert the GOP’s Moneymen?|Lloyd Green|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Where the force generating those threats is a widespread, self-sustaining, and virulent social movement?
Cover-Ups and Concern Trolls: Actually, It's About Ethics in Suicide Journalism|Arthur Chu|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I notice he moves at a slightly slower pace than everyone else, and keeps his gestures compact.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside|Justin Rohrlich|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The TVA, a federally owned and chartered electric power provider, is a New Deal legacy just like Social Security.
Steve Scalise Shows There’s a Fine Line Between Confederate & Southern|Lloyd Green|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Social media forces us to not only be vulnerable for our partner but for the whole world.
Random Hook-Ups or Dry Spells: Why Millennials Flunk College Dating|Ellie Schaack|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
All over the world the just claims of organized labor are intermingled with the underground conspiracy of social revolution.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
To others the fierce desire for social justice obliterates all fear of a general catastrophe.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
And our views of poverty and social betterment, or what is possible and what is not, are still largely conditioned by it.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
Our social life is aimless without it, we are a crowd without a common understanding.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
And an educational movement is more tenacious than any other sort of social or political movement whatever.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

British Dictionary definitions for social contract

social contract

social compact

noun

(in the theories of Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, and others) an agreement, entered into by individuals, that results in the formation of the state or of organized society, the prime motive being the desire for protection, which entails the surrender of some or all personal liberties

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