| 释义 |
▪ I. contract, n.1|ˈkɒntrækt|
Also 4–5 contrait, -traȝt, 4–6 -tracte, 6 Sc. contrack.
[a. OF. contract, now contrat = Pr. contract, It. contratto, ad. L. contract-us (u- stem), f. contract- ppl. stem of L. contrahĕre to contract. Formerly conˈtract.]
1. a. A mutual agreement between two or more parties that something shall be done or forborne by one or both; a compact, covenant, bargain; esp. such as has legal effects (see 2); a convention between states.
c1386Chaucer Friar's T. 8 In punysshynge..Of chirche Reues and of testamentz Of contractes and eek of lakke of sacramentz. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 206/1 In lystris was a contracte which he losed and redressid. 1552Lyndesay Tragedy 197 Had we with Ingland kepit our contrackis, Our nobyll men had leuit in peace and rest. 1758Johnson Idler No. 1 ⁋9, I make no contract, nor incur any obligation. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. 143 Society is indeed a contract. 1872E. Peacock Mabel Heron I. viii. 123 He..faithfully carried out the terms of his contract. 1884Standard 28 Feb. 5/1 The stipulation..might find its place in any contract between friendly Powers.
b. esp. A business agreement for the supply of certain articles or the performance of specified work at a certain price, rate, or commission.
1602Carew Cornwall (1811) 422 A new contract for the tin. 1710Steele Tatler No. 3 ⁋6 Contracts are entered into with the merchants of Milan, for a great number of mules. 1765Ann. Reg. 136 It was completed within two or three weeks of the time allowed by the contract. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Cockayne Wks. (Bohn) II. 67 George of Cappadocia..got a lucrative contract to supply the army with bacon. 1873J. S. Phillips Metallurgist's Comp. (ed. 2) 479 The contracts for the sinking of the shafts, driving levels, etc. 1881Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet i. iii. (1883) 13 [He] became a master builder, and made great sums of money by taking city contracts.
c. Phr. according to contract, by contract, etc.
1535Coverdale Ezra ix. 14 We haue..let go thy commaundementes, to make contracte with the people of these abhominacions. 1659B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 311 And now was the Austrian forces, (according to contract) joyned with the Polanders. 1666–7Denham Direct. to Painter i. xii. 28 Falmouth was there, I know not what to act; Some say 'twas to grow Duke too, by contract. 1798Wolcott (P. Pindar) Tales of Hoy Wks. 1812 IV. 417, I think it must have been built by contract. 1863Ruskin Munera P. (1880) 136 Let our future sieges of Sebastopol be done by contract.
d. ‘A writing in which the terms of a bargain are included’ (J.).
1611Bible 1 Macc. xiii. 42 Then the people of Israel began to write in their instruments, and contracts, in the first yeere of Simon the high Priest, etc. 1680C'tess Manchester in Hatton Corr. (1878) 219 A paper under his owne hand being found, a contract made to the divell.
e. An undertaking. U.S. colloq.
1880A. A. Hayes New Colorado (1881) vi. 87 A person should carefully study his temperament..before he takes a contract to go into a deep shaft. Ibid. xi. 159 Here, too, was Armigo to have annihilated General Kearny, but for the unfortunate circumstance of his troops declining, as they say in the West, ‘to take the contract’. 1891E. S. Ellis Check 2134 vii. 50 Any person might well shrink from the contract of corraling a couple [of such men].
f. A season railway-ticket. Also Comb.
1899Westm. Gaz. 17 July 4/2 The justice of the peace..decided that the company had no right to expect its contract-holders to carry business advertisements about for its benefit. 1904Notice in L'pool Exchange Station, Passengers must show their Tickets (Contract or Ordinary) before passing through these Gates. 1966F. Shaw et al. Lern Yerself Scouse 66 Ave yera contract? Have you a season ticket?
g. In the game of auction bridge, an undertaking to make a certain number of tricks; hence contract bridge (formerly contract auction), a form of auction bridge in which only the tricks which the declarer has undertaken to make count towards the game; also ellipt. contract.
1908Westm. Gaz. 24 Dec. 14/2 Suppose the contract is two in hearts, and four by cards are made, the contracting side score 32 below the line, and game. If the contract had failed, and say two by cards had been lost, the adversaries would score 200 in their honour column. 1922Encycl. Brit. XXX. 499/2 ‘Contract Auction’ of which the essential point is that no more tricks can be scored toward game than the declarer has contracted to make. 1927M. C. Work Contract Bridge i. 5 The Contract player, therefore, is straining for every trick. Ibid. ii. 9 The basic theory of Contract, viz., that Declarer may score below the line (toward game) only as many odd tricks as he has contracted to win. 1927Observer 10 Apr. 25 Little coteries and sets play variations of Bridge, such as Contract, Cairo, Standard, and so forth. 1929Punch 10 Apr. 420 ‘Contract bridge’, which is superseding auction bridge on the Continent and in America, has taken a strong hold in Britain. 1929Observer 24 Nov., Contract has been ‘boomed’ in a way that Auction never was. 1929M. C. Work Complete Contract Bridge p. xi, Their contract and game were secure from the beginning. 1952I. Macleod Bridge viii. 100 George Morris, certainly the most..successful money player in this country since Contract started.
h. slang (orig. U.S.). An arrangement to kill someone, usu. for a fee; freq. in phr. to put a contract (out) on (someone), to arrange for someone to be killed by a hired assassin.
1940Life 30 Sept. 90/2 An order to murder in the delicate phraseology of The Combination is ‘a contract’... If a contract calls for something special fancy, the troop boss may take it on himself. 1963Organized Crime & Illicit Traffic in Narcotics (U.S. Senate Comm. Govt. Operations) i. 188 ‘You had a contract to kill Joe Baker?’ ‘That is right.’ 1969C. Burke God is Beautiful, Man (1970) 47 They decided to find a way to get rid of him, to wipe him out. So they tried to put a contract on him. 1974J. Gardner Corner Men iv. 30 ‘You want a contract?’ ‘Not on them. On someone close to them. You make it hurt.’ 1976Maclean's Mag. 31 May 24 Some policemen believe that a West End mobster named ‘Lucky’ has put a contract out for Savard. 1983Guardian 15 Jan. 26/8 The jeweller, having been told of the possible contract on his life, decided to get rid of the goods.
2. In a legal sense: An agreement enforceable by law.
a. An accepted promise to do or forbear;
b. An agreement which effects a transfer of property; a conveyance.
c1386[see 1]. 1491Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 24 Inhabitauntes..whiche had true cause of accion for..obligacions, contractis and other laufull causes. 1513–4Act 5 Hen. VIII, c. 1 Preamb., Notaries..to..recorde the Knowlege of all contractes, bargeyns, convencions, pactes and agrementes made..within the seid Citie. 1641Termes de la Ley 82 Contract is a bargaine of convenant betweene two parties, where one thing is given for another. 1767Blackstone Comm. II. 442 A contract..is thus defined: ‘an agreement, upon sufficient consideration, to do or not to do a particular thing’. 1845Stephen Laws Eng. II. 55 There is in strictness a distinction between a promise and a contract; for the latter involves the idea of mutuality, which the former does not.
c. The department of law relating to such agreements.
1861Maine Anc. Law (1876) 304 The society of our day is mainly distinguished..by the largeness of the sphere which is occupied..by contract. 1879Sir W. Anson (title), Principles of the English Law of Contract.
3. spec. as to marriage.
a. The act whereby two persons take each other in marriage.
c1315Shoreham 62 And ȝyf ryȝt contrait is y-maked Wyȝthoute wytnessynge. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xiii. (1495) 197 In the contracte of weddinge a man byhotyth and oblygith hymself to lede his lyfe wyth his wyfe wythout departynge. c1400Three Kings Cologne (1886) 132 He schal make a contrait, a Matrimonye bitwix þe Emperouris sone of Rome and þe Emperouris doughter of Tartaryn. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 355 Thei make not lawefulle contractes in matrimony. 1548Hall Chron. 244 b, The tyme of lawfull contract of mariage is not yet come. 1707Miege St. Gt. Brit., Irel. (1718) 5 Those that dwell in towns seldom make any contract of marrige with those in the country. 1757Blackstone Comm. I. 432 Our law considers marriage in no other light than as a civil contract.
b. Formal agreement for marriage; betrothal.
1551Act 2 & 3 Edw. VI, c. 21 Under colour and pretence of a former contract made with another. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 332 [Time] trots hard with a yong maid, between the contract of her marriage, and the day it is solemnizd. 1622Bacon Hen. VII, 81 Which defect (they said) though it would not euacuate a marriage..yet it was enough to make voide a contract. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. 218 The contract between the Bride and the Bridgroom was renewed. 1847Tennyson Princ. iv. 390 You have our son..give him your hand: Cleave to your contract.
c. The instrument of agreement for a marriage, the settlement.
1814Scott Ld. of Isles iv. xxvii, Till at my feet he laid the ring, The ring and spousal contract both. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 232 The father and son are parties to the marriage contract.
†4. The action of drawing together, or condition of being drawn together; mutual attraction.
c1607Donne Let. Sir H. Goodere, Lett. (1651) 58 Nearer contracts than general Christianity, had made us so much towards one. 1626Bacon Sylva §944 Whereupon followeth that Appetite of Contract, and Coniunction, which is in Louers. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 337 Nothing more dethrones the mind of man, than the flatteries of a woman: or that contract of Hearts without which no wedlock.
†5. ? Dealing, device. Obs.
1588A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 39 All unlauchfull..vsurping of vthir mens geir be thift..vsurie, inust winning, decept, and vther contractis.
6. attrib. and Comb. Often in the sense, ‘Done, made, or supplied by contract,’ with connotation of low price and inferior workmanship, as contract work, contract job, contract shoes, contract prices.
1665Sir W. Coventry in Pepys' Corr. 280 By what time each contract-ship building may be ready. 1818Art Preserv. Feet 195 A contract shoe, which perhaps falls in pieces before his day's march is half over. 1888Pall Mall G. 2 Oct. 6/1 These vessels are to be completed within..one to two years from the contract dates.
Add:[6.] b. In sense 1 h, contract killer.
1980N.Y. Times 28 July a20/1 Various harebrained schemes of eliminating Fidel Castro,..one of which involved the use of *contract killers from the American underworld. 1986Times 21 Nov. 5/7 Mr Ranuana's friend was a police informer and the two ‘contract killers’ were undercover detectives.
contract killing.
1977Washington Post 14 Jan. c2/3 The..murder charge..carries a maximum sentence of life, and involves the alleged ‘*contract’ killing of a suspected drug dealer. 1987Daily Tel. 17 Sept. 10/1 That unedifying period..when gangsters ran Chicago, civic corruption was rife and a contract killing was only marginally more difficult to set up than a stiff drink.
▪ II. contract, ppl. a. and n.2|kənˈtrækt|
[a. OF. contract, var. of contrait:—L. contract-us, pa. pple. of contrahĕre: see next.]
= contracted.
†A. as pa. pple.:
a. see contract v. 3, 5;
b. see contract v. 7–9. Now arch. or poetic.
c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋260 Whan the soule is put in oure body, right anoon is contract original synne. 1540Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 38 §2 Such mariages beyng contracte and solemnised in the face of the church. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, iii. vii. 179 For first was he contract to Lady Lucie. 1647H. More Song of Soul ii. i. i. xxii, The..prepossessing prejudice, that I Perhaps may have contract.
b.c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 223 Þe lyme þat it servede fore schal be contract. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 2253 His handes and his fete..Were sodenly smytten, made lame, contracte also. 1545T. Raynalde Byrth of Mankynde 71 Bycause the place is contracte together agayne. 1773J. Ross Fratricide iii. 37 (MS.) With limbs contract through bitterness of pain. 1854S. Dobell Balder xxiv. 172 The painful limbs, contract with pangs.
B. as adj.
†a. Narrowed, limited, abbreviated, condensed, etc.: see contract v. 9. Obs.
1561Eden Arte Nauig. ii. xix. 50 His beames shew them selues contracte, or gathered together & short. 1608D. T. Ess. Pol. & Mor. 16 This contract world of our frayle and humaine bodies. 1621T. Bedford Sinne unto Death 10 Something more contract he is then Aquinas. 1647H. More Song of Soul ii. iii. iv. vi, What judgeth so but envie, and vain pride, And base contract self-love? 1686Goad Celest. Bodies To Rdr. 3, I might have been more contract perhaps.
†b. Of the body or limbs: Drawn together, shrunken (with paralysis, etc.). Obs.
c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iii. xxviii. (1869) 5 Thanne j go speke with the trewaundes, and make hem to seem embosed, or contract, or deff, or dowm. 1460J. Capgrave Chron. 291 He was so contracte, that his body was scarce a cubite of length.
†c. Arith. Of numbers: Restricted to some particular object; concrete. Obs.
[1557Recorde Whetst. A ij, That nomber is contracte from his generall libertie of signification, which is bounde to one denomination, as in saiyng 10 grotes.] 1600T. Hill Arte Vulgar Arith. ix. §107 Number is first diuided.. In number abstract and number contract.
†d. Logic. Abridged, abbreviated: see quots.
1605A. Wotton Answ. Pop. Articles 4 A simple syllogisme is either contract, or explicate. 1628T. Spencer Logick 261 A contract Syllogisme, is when the argument..is so applyed to the particular question, that it is the antecedent in both parts; and the assumption affirmed.
e. Gram. Marked by contraction; = contracted 5 d.
1751Wesley Wks. (1872) XIV. 112 Most verbs in µι are formed from Contract Verbs. 1884Hadley & Allen Grk. Gram. §410 In the optative active, contract verbs have generally -ιη- in the singular. Ibid. §412 Seven verbs in -αω take η instead of ᾱ in the contract forms.
C. as n.
†1. A person whose limbs are contracted or shrunken (cf. B. b); a paralytic.
1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 428/3, xiii contractes or fylled wyth paralysye were by the same restoryd in good helthe.
†2. An abridgement, compendium, epitome.
a1657R. Loveday Lett. (1663) 259 That there may be room enough for something else, take it thus in contract. 1667Wallis in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men (1841) II. 476, I am not for making the book bigger..[it] being intended for a manual or contract.
3. Gram., etc. A contract form or word; a contraction, abbreviation.
1669Gale Crt. Gentiles i. i. iii. 20 Now it is very evident that the name ΧΗνα is but the contract of Canaan. 1884Hadley & Allen Grk. Gram. §41 In contracts of the first and second declensions, a short vowel followed by α..is absorbed: ὀστέ-α, ὀστᾶ.
▪ III. contract, v.|kənˈtrækt|
[f. L. contract- ppl. stem of contrah-ĕre to draw together, f. con- + trahĕre to draw. The ppl. adj. contract was much earlier in use, and prob. helped to introduce the vb.; for some time contract continued to interchange with contracted, not only in the pa. pple., but also in the pa. tense. F. contracter also appeared in the 16th c.]
I. To agree upon, make a contract, engage.
1. a. trans. To agree upon, establish by agreement, to undertake mutually, or enter upon (a) a convention or treaty, (b) a legal or business engagement. Now rare exc. as in 3.
1548Hall Chron. 245 They sent..a league indented..in the which it was contracted and agreed, etc. c1555Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (1878) 241 There is emption and vendition contracted as soon as the parties be condescended upon the price. 1599Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 143 (R.) We haue contracted an inviolable amitie, peace and league with the aforesaid queene. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 464 They contracted their owne conditions in despight of that whole Armie. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) I. 202 Assume the legal Right to disengage From all, it had contracted under Age. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India II. 411 He steadily persisted in declining to contract any subsidiary alliance.
b. Hence, to contract friendship, contract acquaintance, etc., which passes into sense 4, q.v.
†c. In a bad sense: To conspire, plot. Obs.
1618Chapman Hesiod i. 370 Whom rude Injury delights, and acts That misery and tyranny contracts. 1633J. Done tr. Hist. Septuagint 93 What men do and thinke with themselves, or what they plot and contract with another.
2. a. intr. To enter into an agreement or contract, esp. a business or legal engagement.
1530Palsgr. 497/1, I contracte, I covenaunt with one upon condyscions. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxiv. §4 That infants may contract and covenant with God, the law is plain. 1677Hale Contempl. ii. 124 It was but Reasonable and Just for him [Adam] to contract for all his Posterity. 1700Dryden Fables (J.), But first contracted, that, if ever found, His head should pay the forfeit. 1746in Col. Rec. Pennsylv. V. 42 The Supplies contracted to be deliver'd them from this port. 1863F. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia 70 Two planters..have contracted to build a canal. 1891Law Times Rep. LXIII. 765/1 The defendants were liable as principals, as they had contracted in their own names.
b. Const. for (a piece of work, an article to be supplied, etc.).
1651Hobbes Leviath. i. xv. 75 The value of all things contracted for, is measured by the Appetite of the Contractors. 1676Evelyn Mem. (1857) II. 115 This Dutchman had contracted with the Genoese for all their marble. 1796Hull Advertiser 14 May 2/2 Such joiners as wish to contract for the pewing of Aldbrough church. 1845McCulloch Taxation ii. i. (1852) 421 When government goes into the money-market and contracts for a loan. 1890W. Besant Demoniac iii. 29 In the good old days of railway making, when the founder of the family engineered, contracted, and constructed on the largest scale possible.
c. to contract oneself out of: to free oneself from, divest oneself of, by entering into a contract.
1879Daily News 20 Sept. 3/3 The landlord contracting himself out of the Agricultural Holdings Act. 1891Law Rep., Weekly Notes 43/2 The company had contracted itself out of the right to wind up voluntarily.
d. intr. to contract out: to make an arrangement or agreement not to participate under certain conditions; to gain exemption or exclusion from certain provisions, etc.; hence, to refuse to take part in or be a part of. Conversely, to contract in.
1894Times 29 Jan. 11/4 With the exception of those men who now have contracting-out mutual insurance societies, the opinion of the working men..is..against permission to contract out on any terms. 1906Daily Chron. 23 June 4/3 ‘The parents of at least twenty children’ may appeal to the Board of Education, which, if it sees fit, may allow the school to contract-out... They do not contemplate..any large amount of contracting-out. 1920S. & B. Webb Hist. Trade Un. 366 By ‘contracting out’ was meant an arrangement between employer and employed by which the latter relinquish the rights conferred upon them by the Act, and often also their rights under the Common Law. 1927Daily Express 24 Mar. 1 The Trade Union Bill will provide that members of a trade union wishing to contribute to political funds shall contract in. 1952Ann. Reg. 1951 165 A member of the Committee of Ministers was enabled to ‘contract out’. 1957Economist 21 Dec. 1042/3 Why should one section of the community, the trade unionists, contract out of this planless ‘opportunity state’? 1959Times 9 Jan. 8/4 The beat generation of San Francisco presumably contracted out of society only after the refrigerator and car had become commonplace.
e. trans. To arrange for by contract; to let out by contract; to delegate (work, etc.).
1897Daily News 13 Sept. 7/5 Do you contract your work of construction, or do it by direct employment of labour? 1902Daily Chron. 16 Aug. 6/2 We are forbidden to contract a ‘boy’ away from the country for more than a year. 1959Which? Winter 63/2 The Cleaner may contract work out wholly or in part.
3. spec. as to marriage.
a. trans. To constitute marriage by contract; to enter into marriage.
1530Palsgr. 497/1, I contracte matrymonye with one, Je me fiance. 1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 92 They all concluded to passe into Thessaly, to contract the marriage twixt Pleusidippus and the daughter of the Thessalian King. 1625Heylin Microcosmos 95 Charles the eight, who contracts a marriage with the Orphan. 1638Penit. Conf. vii. (1657) 121 The Greek Priests sinned not in contracting marriage. 1708J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. (1745) 361 Banns are always asked before marriage can be contracted. 1845S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. II. 403 It were better for the priesthood to contract matrimony than to live with women of ill fame. 1885Law Rep. 14 Q.B. Div. 80 She was of unsound mind and incapable of contracting marriage.
b. (a) trans. and refl. To betroth, affiance, engage (two persons, or one person to another); pass. to be betrothed or ‘engaged’. arch. † (b) To enter into a matrimonial contract with. Obs.
1536Diurn. Occurrents (1833) 21 Vpoun the xxvj day of November, the kingis grace was contractit on the eldest dochter of the King of France. 1599Thynne Animadv. (1865) 15 Since the prince was onlye slenderly contracted, and not maryed, to her. 1605Two Unnat. Murthers in J. P. Collier Illustr. E.E. Pop. Lit. I. 29 Maister Browne with his owne handes contracted his onely daughter to Peter. 1606G. W[oodcocke] tr. Hist. Ivstine Ll. 3 b, His daughter Margaret, first contracted with the King of France, and then refused, was married to Phillibert. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 401 Contract vs fore these Witnesses. 1635E. Pagitt Christianogr. 84 That no Deaconship or Presbytership is given among them, except first they have contracted a Virgin. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. IV. ix. 260 Two of the principal citizens of Sparta contracted themselves to his two daughters. 1775Sheridan Rivals i. ii, We were contracted before my father's death. 1871H. Ainsworth Tower Hill i. v, What would Lady Rochford think of her, if she knew she was contracted to this man?
fig.c1600Shakes. Sonn. i, But thou contracted to thine owne bright eyes.
c. intr. To enter into a matrimonial contract.
1660Jer. Taylor Duct. Dubit. iii. 5 (Latham) Although the young folks can contract against their parents' will, yet they can be hindered from possession. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. 552 First, they must be willing to contract..Secondly, they must be able to contract.
II. To enter into, incur, become involved in, acquire.
4. to contract friendship, contract acquaintance, etc., was originally said of the two parties entering into such mutual relations (see sense 1); whence, of one party, ‘to form, enter into, or become engaged in’ such a relation.
1553Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 28 A further frendship by this meanes contracted. 1598Bacon Sacred Medit. iv. (Arb.) 107 It is the Charitie of Publicanes contracted by mutuall profite and good offices. 1623Bingham Xenophon 120 Cleander..vsed Xenophon with all kindnesse, and contracted hospitalitie with him. 1634W. Tirwhyt tr. Balzac's Lett. 205 We ought to contract perfect love with honest men. 1773T. Jefferson Corr. Wks. 1859 I. 195 The small acquaintance which I had the pleasure of having contracted with you. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. vii. (1889) 57 To feel that he was contracting his first college friendship.
5. a. To enter into, bring upon oneself (involuntarily), incur, catch, acquire, become infected with (something noxious, as disease, † mischief; bad habits or condition; † danger, † risk, † blame, guilt).
1598R. Barckley Felic. Man (1631) 627 The common opinion of happiness..is contracted by the fall of our first parents. 1607Topsell Serpents (1653) 613 She eateth Rue..to avoyd all the poyson she contracted in the combat. 1628Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 106 You must stand the danger you have contracted. 1654R. Codrington tr. Hist. Ivstine 425 Demetrius..contracted as much contempt by his sloth, as his Father had [contracted] hatred by his pride [cf. 221]. 1665Glanvill Sceps. Sci. 82 Under whom they contracted new and worse errors. 1667Pepys Diary (1879) IV. 300 And he contract the displeasure of the world. 1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. p. cviii, Thereby contracting dangerous Colds, Coughs and Catarrhs. 1700Dryden Fables, Gd. Parson 86 Well may the baser brass contract a rust. 1746–7Hervey Medit. (1818) 166 The woods seem to contract a sickly aspect. 1840Macaulay Clive 91 He had contracted several painful distempers. 1866Geo. Eliot F. Holt (1868) 21 She had contracted small rigid habits of thinking and acting. 1877Mozley Univ. Serm. viii. 172 One who has contracted guilt.
b. In a neutral or good sense: To take on, acquire, get for oneself (a habit, quality, condition).
1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 94 The wasting..of Sheet-Lead by the heat and moisture contracted between it and the plain it lyes on. 1711Addison Spect. No. 160 ⁋11 He had contracted the Seriousness and Gravity of a Privy-Counsellor. 1717Pope Ep. Jervas 16 Like friendly colours..each from each contract new strength and light. 1749Chesterfield Lett. II. 283 Contract a habit of correctness and elegance. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1862) II. iv. vii. 116 Their flesh contracts an agreeable flavour of garlic. 1853Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. xxi. 273 We cannot help contracting good from such association.
6. a. To incur (a liability or obligation, esp. a debt).
1650[see b]. 1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 67 For the Debt to Foreigners, tho' near Thirty Years Contracting, is not..more than Five Millions. 1724R. Falconer Voy. & Esc. (1769) 82, I am going to pay a Debt.. which was contracted at my Birth. 1803J. Porter Thaddeus xii. (1831) 104 To defray what he had contracted would nearly exhaust his all. 1839Alison Hist. Europe I. ii. §93. 217 The loans contracted had amounted to 530,000,000 francs.
†b. To bring on a person (a debt, guilt, etc.). Obs.
1650Fuller Pisgah iv. iii. §31 This is a new debt of later date, contracted on themselves by their infidelity. 1657Baxter Acc. Pres. Th. 12 No sinne of a Believer..doth so much as contract on the person a guilt of death or any punishment.
III. To draw together, concentrate; to narrow, limit, shorten.
†7.
a. To draw or bring (things) together, collect, concentrate, combine in one. Obs.
1620Venner Via Recta viii. 179 Much meat doth..contract to the stomacke the spirits..for the concocting of it. a1631Donne (J.), Why love among the virtues is not known; It is, that love contracts them all in one. 1644H. Parker Jus Pop. 57 As the people were more contracted, so they might the more easily consult together. 1647C. Harvey School of Heart Wks. (1874) 110 All that the world containes in this one tree Contracted is. 1659B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 165 The king contracted formidable forces neer Sedan. 1728Newton Chronol. Amended 176 Theseus contracted those twelve cities into one. 1782Sir J. Reynolds Disc. xi. 34 By contracting into one whole what nature has made multifarious.
†b. fig. Obs.
1611Tourneur Ath. Trag. i. iv. 30 With a purpose so Contracted to that absence. 1691–8Norris Pract. Disc. 187 He having his Spiritual Senses well disposed..contracts his Affections upon Heaven and Happiness.
8. To draw the parts of (anything) together; to cause to shrink; to knit (the brow).
1602Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 4 Our whole Kingdome To be contracted in one brow of woe. 1607― Timon i. i. 257 Aches contract, and sterue your supple ioynts. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 157 [Herons] fly holding their legges backwards and their necks contracted. 1797T. Bewick Brit. Birds (1847) I. 169 By contracting the muscles of the head. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola i. viii, The companion..whose brow is never contracted by resentment or indignation.
9. a. To reduce to smaller compass as by drawing together; to diminish in extent; to narrow, shorten.
1626Bacon Sylva §266 You contract your eye, when you would see sharply. 1653Holcroft Procopius iv. 125 The tyde is contracted in a narrow passage between two lands. 1697Potter Antiq. Greece iii. xvi. (1715) 135 The Sails were contracted, dilated, or changed from one side to another. 1725Pope Odyss. x. 104 The jutting shores that swell on either side Contract its mouth. 1786W. Gilpin Observ. Pict. Beauty (1788) II. 221 The rocks, contracting the road. 1869Phillips Vesuv. viii. 228 This eruption contracted the area of the lake very sensibly.
refl.1664Power Exp. Philos. i. 9 There is a white Film or Bladder, which continually contracts and dilates itself. 1711Addison Spect. No. 127 ⁋10 A Touch of your Pen will make it contract itself, like the Sensitive Plant. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VIII. 183 That power they have of lengthening and contracting themselves at pleasure.
b. fig. To make smaller, reduce in amount, diminish the extent or scope of; to narrow.
1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. iii. §7 He that cannot contract the sight of his mind as well as disperse and dilate it, wanteth a great faculty. a1665J. Goodwin Filled w. the Spirit (1867) 19 It is the nature of grief to contract the heart. 1666Pepys Diary (1879) VI. 56 He hopes shortly to contract his expence. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 49 ⁋7 Selfishness has contracted their understandings. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 37 The natural discharge at Thames Head is now contracted.
c. fig. To restrict, limit, confine.
1570Billingsley Euclid vii. Introd. 183 What other thing is in musicke entreated of, then nomber contracted to sound and voyce? 1639Heywood Lond. Peaceable Estate Wks. 1874 V. 370 Time so contracts us, that we cannot dwell On all. 1663Gerbier Counsel 15 The reason also for contracting the Balconies within the upright of a Colum. 1872Yeats Growth Comm. 56 The ban which contracted its civilisation within fixed limits that could not be extended.
†d. To abbreviate, abridge, condense; refl. to speak or write briefly. Obs.
1603Bp. Barlow Confer. Hampton Crt. in Phenix 1721 I. 139 The Sum and Substance of the Conference..contracted by William Barlow. 1631Star Chamb. Cases (Camden) 28 My Lords, tyme being spent I will contract myselfe. 1653Cromwell in Select. Harl. Misc. (1793) 372 Seeing you sit here somewhat uneasy..I shall contract myself, with respect to that. 1676Ray Corr. (1848) 121 What he writes of the Haggard Falcon is contracted out of Latham. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World 2, I shall endeavour to contract my relation. 1753Torriano Gangr. Sore Throat 104 You may, Sir, contract whatever you may judge proper, and make what Use you please of this my Letter.
e. Gram. To shorten (a word, syllable, etc.) by combining or eliding some of its elements.
1605Camden Rem. (1637) 74 Contracted from Honoricus. 1659Pearson Creed (1839) 99 Jehoshua, in process of time contracted to Jeshuah. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 92 ⁋9 The syllables might be often contracted or dilated at pleasure. 1871Roby Lat. Gram. i. ix. §222 U + e and u + i are contracted into u in some cases of substantives with u stems. 1884Hadley & Allen Grk. Gram. §38 A close vowel before an open is seldom contracted. Ibid. §409 note, [In Homer] verbs in -οω are contracted as in Attic.
intr.1884Ibid. §37 note, The Ionic..has uncontracted forms in very many cases where the Attic contracts.
f. Pros. (see quot.)
1884Hadley & Allen Grk. Gram. §1080 Resolution and Contraction.—Many kinds of verse allow..the use of a long syllable in place of two short ones, which are then said to be contracted.
10. intr. (for refl.) To become smaller in extent or volume; to narrow, shorten, shrink.
1641Wilkins Math. Magick ii. v. (1648) 182 Like the fins of a fish to contract and dilate. 1731Arbuthnot Aliments (L.), [It] gives room to the fibres to contract. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. xxxi. 409 In passing from the solid to the liquid state, ice, like bismuth, contracts.
fig.1764Goldsm. Trav. 184 But calm, and bred in ignorance and toil, Each wish contracting fits him to the soil.
Add: [c indigo][2.] f.[/c] To place under contract.
1961in Webster. 1984Dictionaries VI. 185 Oxford has contracted International Computaprint Corporation for the initial capture. 1988A. Lively Blue Fruit 126 We've just contracted a bunch of black musicians. |