Lexic.us

Definition of Contraction

1. Noun. (physiology) a shortening or tensing of a part or organ (especially of a muscle or muscle fiber).

2. Noun. The process or result of becoming smaller or pressed together. "The contraction of a gas on cooling"

3. Noun. A word formed from two or more words by omitting or combining some sounds. "`o'clock' is a contraction of `of the clock'"

4. Noun. The act of decreasing (something) in size or volume or quantity or scope.

Definition of Contraction

1. n. The act or process of contracting, shortening, or shrinking; the state of being contracted; as, contraction of the heart, of the pupil of the eye, or of a tendon; the contraction produced by cold.

Definition of Contraction

1. Noun. A reversible reduction in size. ¹

2. Noun. (economics) A period of economic decline or negative growth. ¹

3. Noun. (biology) A shortening of a muscle when it is used. ¹

4. Noun. (medicine) A strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth. ¹

5. Noun. (linguistics) A process whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme (a word) are lost or reduced, such that it becomes a bound morpheme (a clitic) that attaches phonologically to an adjacent word. ¹

6. Noun. (context: English orthography) A word with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe, usually resulting from the above process. ¹

7. Noun. (medicine) Contracting a disease. ¹

8. Noun. (phonetics) Syncope, the loss of sounds from within a word. ¹

9. Noun. The acquisition of something, generally negative. ¹

10. Noun. (medicine) A distinct stage of wound healing, wherein the wound edges are gradually pulled together. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Contraction

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Contraction

1. A shortening or reduction in size, in connection with muscles contraction implies shortening and/or development of tension. Origin: L. Contractus = drawn together This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Contraction

contractee contractees contractibilities contractibility contractible contractibleness contractile contractile organ contractile proteins contractile ring

contractile stricture contractile vacuole contractilities contractility contracting contraction (current term) contraction band contraction band necrosis contraction stress test contractional

contractionary contractions contractive contractivity contractless contractor contractor combatant contractorization contractors contractours

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