contact
Americannoun
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contacts
plural
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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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contacts,
present (3rd person singular)
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contacted,
past participle, past
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contacting
present participle
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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)
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contacts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
contacted,
past participle, past
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contacting
present participle
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:
"Delays in specimen collection, transportation and testing can postpone confirmation by days or weeks, which hinders the isolation of infected persons, contact tracing and the initiation of outbreak-control measures," Sullivan wrote.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
The girls kept in touch throughout their childhood, then their teenage years, and as they settled down and had families - and are still in contact now they are pensioners.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
At every event, Kaminetsky handed out her contact information in case shoppers wanted to follow up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Cardoso said he is in regular contact with the farm to dial in the restaurant’s needs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
Boaz stood motionless, trying to decide whether turning and running or standing there making eye contact would piss the beast off more.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
It isn’t unusual for presidents and Fed chairs to meet on occasion, but in recent decades the contacts have been more formal and choreographed to avoid the perception the president is influencing rate decisions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
At the same time, some contacts across intermediate distances became stronger.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026
His visit comes six years after a deadly military clash along the disputed Tibetan border between China and India, with ties gradually improving through restored flights, visas and high-level contacts.
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
Galicia didn’t get the protection he needed, despite multiple contacts with police and city offices — by him, relatives and neighbors —regarding the empty dwelling next door to his on North St. Andrews Place.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
Thin but not muscular, with wavy hair that always looks a bit messy, grays sprouting up here and there among the dark chestnut brown, and black-plastic-framed glasses that he prefers to contacts.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
The FBI reports that over 1 million Americans contacted the bureau last year to complain that they’d been targeted by online scams of one type or another.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
Former Michigan staff members said that between the texts and calls, Jolin contacted football coaches more than any other booster that season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Dozens of affected women and their families contacted us following our earlier reporting.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Comcast, another Nexstar competitor, also contacted state AGs to express its concerns about the merger, according to people familiar with the situation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
In the midst of this, they contacted both the United States and Japanese embassies in Reykjavik to protest Fischer’s incarceration.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Pritchard was also handed an indefinite restraining order, preventing her from contacting her ex-husband.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
The EU wants children's accounts to remain private, with "risky settings" disabled by default and unknown users prevented from contacting minors.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
Paul Bostock, chief operating officer at Cardiff and Vale health board, said the request to pause scheduled surgeries and referrals had included contacting NHS England care providers to pause immediate surgeries.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Fish and Wildlife Service if you suspect someone is trafficking wildlife by contacting 1-844-FWS-TIPS.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
She remembered writing that, too, not long before she stopped contacting him, before she pushed him behind many walls.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
