contract 
the vendor must give evidence of his title. Oral con- ing or shrinking into a smaller compass or 
tract. Same as verbal contract. Paxol or simple con- i en crth: as. contractile muscles or fibers. 2. 
S^EW^WSB? "Uta^lCTaZ Producing contraction ; capable of shortening 
" lr 
or making smaller. 
The heart's contractile force. 
Brooke, Universal Beauty, iv. 
Observation of the ascent of water in capillary tubes 
tract in'Roin. law, an agreement the validity of which 
was recognized by the courts because it related to a thing. 
and the thing had been delivered pursuant to it. Social 
contract [V. contrat social}, a supposed expressed or im- 
plied agreement regulating the relations of citizens with 
one another and with the government, and forming the 
foundation of political society : the phrase used as a title 
to a treatise oil government by J. J. Rousseau, which ex- . 
ercised a great influence in France and elsewhere previous Specifically 3. In entoni., capable OI being 
to the revolution.- Special contract, (a) A sealed con- Doubled in close to the lower surface of the 
tract. (6) A written contract specifying in detail what is ., j fittinir into OTOOVPH so as to be 
to be done as a building-contract with specifications.- thorax, and fitting into giooyes 
To count on contract. See counts- Verbal contract, hardly distinguishable from the general sur- 
shows that the contractile force of a thin Him of water 
is about sixteen milligrammes weight per millimetre of 
breadth. Thomson and Tail, Nat. Phil., I. ii., App. (F). 
j contract made by word of mouth, in contradistinction 
to one embodied in writing. Also called oral contract. 
Voidable contract, a contract which is liable to be made 
void by a party or a third person, but which meanwhile is 
binding. Void contract, a contract which has no legal 
efficacy to bind either party. = Syn. 2. Obligation, conven- 
tion. 
eontractable (kon-trak'ta-bl), a. [< contract, 
face: said of the legs, etc., of insects. This 
structure is found in many Coleoptera which feign death 
on being alarmed. The body of an insect is said to be 
contractile when the prothorax and head can be folded 
down on the trunk, as in certain Coleoptera and Hyine- 
noptera. Contractile vacuole. See mcuole. 
.^. ~x;i4.w* /i ..,, 4,.., i i',]'', fi\ ,i r [i^ con- 
The inher- 
it, -I- -able.-] Capable of" being contracted or ent ' , Qr foj . ce , wh " ich ' bodies shrink 
Ortrmiforl a ivnttrttp.tltnlf' mSPHSPS. r . , _ J o- _n__ J_ .! .'~T Al. 
acquired: as, eontractable diseases. 
Influences which we call moral, which are usually imi- 
tative, and which are eontractable by imitation. 
B. W. Richarason, Prevent. Med., p. 447. 
contractant (kon-trak'tant), n. [= F. contrae- 
tant; as contract + -antf.~\ In law, a contract- 
ing party. 
That trading vessels of any of the eontractants, under 
convoy, shall lodge with the commander of the convoying 
vessel their passports and certificates or sea-letters, drawn 
up according to a certain form. 
Woolsey, Introd. to Inter. Law, 191. 
COntractationt (kon-trak-ta'shon), n. A con- 
tract ; the act of making a contract, 

or contract ; more specifically, in physiol., the 
property which belongs to muscles of contract- 
ing under appropriate stimuli. The stimulus nor- 
mally conies through the nerves, and may be accompanied 
by volition or not ; but it may also be applied artificially, 
either indirectly through the nerves or directly to the mus- 
cle itself, as by electricity, mechanical violence, or chemi- 
cal action. 
It is not pure thought which moves a muscle ; neither 
is it the abstraction contractility, but the muscle, which 
moves a limb. 
G. H. Lewes, Probs. of Life and Mind, I. ii. 3. 
The central cord, to whose contractility this action is 
due, has been described as muscular. 
W. B. Carpenter, Micros., 439. 
In euery ship euery man s name is taken, and if he haue contracting (kon-trak'ting), a. [< contract + 
any marke in the face, or hand, or arme, it is written by a v -, Motion, or havim? made a contract 
notarie (as well as his name) appertaining to the contrac- -g*.\ 1 . MaKing O a com 
.__,..!-., ,._ A..*:?: ...... * or treaty; stipulating: as, the contracting par- 
ties to a league. 
The Contracting parties came, in short, to an under- 
tation house, appointed for these causes. 
Uakluyfs Voyages, III. 862. 
contracted (kqn-trak'ted), p. a. [Pp. of eon- 
tract, v.} 1. Crawn together or into a smaller 
or narrower compass ; shrunk. 
To whom the angel with contracted brow. 
Milton, P. L., viii. 560. 
2. Narrow; mean; selfish: as, a man of a con- 
tracted soul or mind. 
Men may travel far, and return with minds as contracted 
as if they had never stirred from their own market-town. 
Macaulay, History. 
, 
standing in each case ; but if they went no further, they 
were not obliged to one another. 
Maine, Ancient Law, p. 315. 
2f. Binding a contract ; given in confirmation 
of a bargain or an agreement. 
The promises of immortality and eternal life, of which 
the present miraculous graces of the Holy Spirit were an 
earnest, and in the nature of a contracting penny. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 265. 
contraction (kon- trak 'shon), n. [= F. con- 
3. Narrow or restricted in means or opportune tractim = s \ contraction = Pg. contraccao = 
ties; restricted, as by poverty; scanty; needy. It< contrazio ^ < L< contracting-), contraction, 
< contrahere, pp. contractus, draw together: see 
contract, V.] 1. The act of drawing together or 
shrinking; the condition of becoming smaller 
in extent or dimensions through the nearer ap- 
proach to one another of the parts ; the state of 
being contracted ; a decrease in volume, bulk, 
or dimensions, as from loss of heat. All bodies, 
with very few exceptions, expand by the application of 
heat, and contract when heat is withdrawn. (See expan- 
sion and heat.) Contraction also takes place when a gas is 
condensed to a liquid, and in most cases when a liquid is 
changed to a solid ; there are, however, some exceptions, 
as water, which expands on solidifying. 
Contraction of the pupil takes place not only under 
the stimulus of light, but also in looking at very near 
objects. The reason of this is, that correction of spheri- 
cal aberration is thus made more perfect. 
Le Conte, Sight, p. 40. 
2. The act of making short, of abridging, or of 
reducing within a narrower compass by any 
means ; the act of lessening or making smaller 
in amount; the state of being so lessened; re- 
duction; diminution; abridgment: as, a con- 
traction of the currency. 
He [the farmer] has done his best to become rich ; he has 
mortgaged, and he has repudiated his mortgages; ... he 
has tried inflation, and contraction too; and yet he can- 
not make more than seven or eight per cent. 
The Nation, July 15, 1875. 
Specifically 3. A shortening of a word in 
pronunciation or in writing: as, can't is a con- 
He passed his youth in contracted circumstances. 
Lamb, Old Benchers. 
4. Arranged for or disposed of by contract; 
specifically, betrothed. 
Here are the articles of contracted peace, 
Between our sovereign and the French king Charles, 
For eighteen months concluded by consent. 
I press nie none but good householders, yeomen's sons: 
inquire me out contracted bachelors, such as had been 
asked twice on the bans. Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iv. 2. 
Contracted vein, in hydraul., a phrase denoting the 
diminution which takes place in the diameter of a stream 
of water issuing from a vessel at a short distance from the 
discharging aperture, owing to the momentum of the 
particles toward the center of the orifice. 
COntractedly (kon-trak'ted-li), adv. In a con- 
tracted manner ; with contraction. 
Pillar is to be pronounced contractedly, as of one sylla- 
ble, or two short ones. 
Bp. Newton, Note on Paradise Lost, ii. 302. 
contractedness (kon-trak'ted-nes), . 1. The 
state of being contracted ; conciseness. 
Brevity or contractedness of speech in prayer. 
South, Sermons, II. iv. 
2. Narrowness; meanness; extreme selfish- 
ness. 
Wherever men neglect the improvement of their minds, 
there is always a narrowness and contractedness of spirit. 
A. A. Sykes, Sermon at St. Paul's, p. 9 (1724). 
COntractibility (kon- trak -ti-bil'i-ti), n. [< 
-& \ .. ft if ' u UJEAMHmWJJW*Ml vi ill >v i iLU..Lj.ti a>a. v-xaiii \j a ai \j\iiv- 
contractible: see -Mity,] Capability of being \ mct i on of cannot. In writing, contraction takes 
contracted; the property of admitting of con- 
traction: as, the contractibility and dilatability 
of air. 
contractible (kon-trak'ti-bl), a, [(contract, v. } 
+ -ible.] Capable of contraction. 
Small air-bladders dilatable and contractible. 
Arbuthnot, Aliments. 
Contractible pair, in alg., two not contiguous members 
of a linear sei ' 
place, as in pronunciation, primarily by the omission of 
intermediate letters ; but also by writing iu a smaller 
character the last letter above the word contracted, by 
running two or more letters into one character, by using 
symbols representing syllables or words, and by the use 
of initial letters: as, reed, for received; q*m for quatn; 
& for et. Specifically, in Gr. ffram., the union of the con- 
current vowels of two syllables into one long vowel or 
diphthong that is, of oo> into <o, of ee into et, etc. See 
abbreviation, 2. 
contractibleness (kon-trak'ti-bl-nes), n. The 4 - In anc. j>ro* M the use of a single long time 
quality of suffering contraction; contracti- 
bility. 
contractile (kon-trak'til), a. [< F. contractile 
= Sp. Pg. contractil = It. contrattile, < L. as 
if *contractilis, < contracttts, pp. of contrahere, 
or syllable in place of two short times. Thus, 
in the dactylic hexameter, a spondee (-^ ) can be substi- 
tuted in the first four feet for a dactyl (-* ^ w)_ one long 
being metrically equivalent to two shorts; but such a 
substitution is admissible only in certain kinds of verse 
and in certain parts of a foot or line, according to special 
rules. In the dactylic hexameter, for example, the fifth 
j , ., , , -i -i r-, J.*T_I ruies. in me uu^i-viii; iiuAiuiicucr, lur ouuiiuio. UK nun 
draw together: see eon tract, r.J 1. busceptible f 00 t must ordinarily be a dactyl, not a spondee. The con- 
of contraction ; having the property of contract- verse of contraction is resolution. 
contract ure 
5f. The act of making a contract ; the state of 
being under a contract, especially one of mar- 
riage. 
Such an act 
. . . makes marriage vows 
As false as dicers' oaths : O, such a deed 
As from the body of contraction plucks 
The very soul. Shak., Hamlet, iii. 4. 
6. In surg. , an abnormal and permanent altera- 
tion in the relative position and forms of parts, 
arising from various causes, as in ankylosis, dis- 
tortion, clubfoot, wryneck, etc. 7. In math., 
any device for abridging the mechanical labor 
of making calculations by diminishing the num- 
ber of characters written down. 8. The act 
or process of contracting or acquiring: as, the 
contraction of a debt Dupuytren's contraction 
[named after Dupuiftren, a French surgeon, 1777-1835], 
in pathol., the fixed flexion of one finger or more, due 
to the contraction of the palmar fascia. It usually af- 
fects the little finger first, is more frequent in males than 
in females, and seems to be favored by the gouty dia- 
thesis. Hour-glass contraction, an irregular, local, 
transverse contraction of the uterus, at the internal os or 
above, occurring after the delivery of the child, and de- 
laying the delivery of the placenta. - Syn. 3. Abbreviation, 
Contraction. See abbreviation. 
COntractional (kon-trak'shon-al), a. [< con- 
traction + -at.] 1 . Of, relating to, or of the na- 
ture of contraction. 
Mr. Robert Mallett, a zealous supporter of the contrac- 
tional hypothesis, estimated that the diameter of the earth 
is now about 189 miles less than it was when entirely 
fluid. Amer. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., XXX. 251. 
The contractional theory here finds a cause for all the 
diminution of interior volume demanded by the wrinkling 
of the crust in mountain ranges. Science, V. 388. 
2. Causing or caused by contraction. 
contractionist (kpn-trak'shon-ist), n. [< con- 
traction + -ist.'] One who advocates contrac- 
tion of the currency, especially of the paper 
currency, of a country : the opposite of infla- 
tionist. 
Ai regards the Republican party, its own desire is to 
please everybody both contractio-nist and inflationist, 
the solvent and insolvent, the creditor and the debtor. 
The Saturn, Aug. 19, 1875. 
contraction-rule (kon -trak' shon -rol), n. A 
pattern-makers' rule, longer than the standard 
rule by an amount equal to that which the 
metal to be used for a casting contracts in cool- 
ing from the molten state. For cast-iron the 
rule is 24J inches for a length of two feet. 
contractive (kon-trak'tiv), a. [< contract + 
-we.'} Tending to contract. 
The heart, as said, from its contractive cave, 
On the left side ejects the bounding wave. 
Blackmore, Creation. 
contractor (kon-trak'tor), n. [< LL. contrac- 
tor, one who makes a contract, < L. contrahere, 
p. contractus, contract: see contract, .] 1. 
ne who contracts ; one of the parties to a 
contract, bargain, or agreement ; one who cov- 
enants with another to do or to refrain from 
doing a particular thing. 
All matches ... are dangerous and inconvenient where 
the contractors are not equals. Sir Jt. L'Estramje. 
Specifically 2. One who contracts or cove- 
nants, either with a government or other pub- 
lic body or with private parties, to furnish 
supplies, or to construct works or erect build- 
ings, or to perform any work or service, at a 
certain price or rate: as, a paving-cow trac- 
tor; a labor-corefractor. 3. A muscle which 
contracts or lessens the size of a part; a con- 
strictor. Contractor tracheae, in ornith., the con- 
tractor of the windpipe, a muscle lying along the trachea, 
whose action shortens the windpipe by drawing the tra- 
cheal rings closer together, and also drags the whole struc- 
ture backward by being attached to the clavicle or ster- 
num. See sternotrachealis. Independent contractor, 
as distinguished from servant or employee, a person fol- 
lowing a regular independent employment, who offers 
his services to the public to accept orders and execute 
commissions for all who may employ him in a certain 
line of duty, using his own means for the purpose, and 
being accountable only for final performance. Cooley, 
Torts (ed. 1878), p. 549. 
contractual (kon-trak'tu-al), a. [= P. contrac- 
tuel, < L. contractus (contractu-), a drawing to- 
gether, LL. a contract: see contract, n., and -<?/.] 
Arising from a contract or agreement ; con- 
sisting in or of the nature of a contract: as, 
a contractual liability. 
The recognition of simple consent as creative of a con- 
tractual bond. Kneye. Brit., XX. 703. 
It [the German Salic law] elaborately discusses contrac- 
tual obligations. Maine, Early Law and Custom, p. 373. 
contracture (kon-trak'tur), n. [= F- contnie- 
turc = It. conirattura ; as contract + ->r.] 
1. Contraction, as of muscles ; contortion pro- 
duced by muscular contraction; specifically, a 
permanent shortening of a muscle. 
8 
