1. (n.) To draw together or nearer; to reduce to a less compass; to shorten, narrow, or lessen; as, to contract one's sphere of action.

2. (n.) To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.

3. (n.) To bring on; to incur; to acquire; as, to contract a habit; to contract a debt; to contract a disease.

4. (n.) To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for.

5. (n.) To betroth; to affiance.

6. (n.) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.

7. (v. i.) To be drawn together so as to be diminished in size or extent; to shrink; to be reduced in compass or in duration; as, iron contracts in cooling; a rope contracts when wet.

8. (v. i.) To make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain; as, to contract for carrying the mail.

9. (a.) Contracted; as, a contract verb.

10. (a.) Contracted; affianced; betrothed.

11. (n.) The agreement of two or more persons, upon a sufficient consideration or cause, to do, or to abstain from doing, some act; an agreement in which a party undertakes to do, or not to do, a particular thing; a formal bargain; a compact; an interchange of legal rights.

12. (n.) A formal writing which contains the agreement of parties, with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof of the obligation.

13. (n.) The act of formally betrothing a man and woman.

OD abbreviate abridge abstract accept obligation accord acquire affair affiance afflict agree agree to agreement answer for arrangement attempt bag bang bar bargain bargain for barricade batten batten down be answerable for be brought down be felled be responsible for be security for be seized of be struck down be traumatized become engaged betroth bind binding agreement bob boil down bolt bond break out bring down bring on bring upon business button button up capsulize capture cartel catch catch cold cause choke choke off circumscribe clap clip close close up coarct collapse collective agreement come by come down with come in for come into commit commitment compact compress concentrate condense confine consolidate consortium constrict constringe contain contract an engagement convention corral corrugate covenant covenant of salt cover cramp crease crop curtail cut cut back cut down cut off short cut short deal decline decrease derange derive develop dicker diminish disorder do a deal dock drag down draw draw in draw together dwindle earn effort elide employment contract engage engagement enter into possession enterprise epitomize erupt fail fall in with fall into fasten fever fold fold up foreshorten formal agreement gain get go bail for go in go into shock harvest have an understanding incur indispose induce invite ironclad agreement key knit latch legal agreement legal contract lessen limit lock lock out lock up make make a deal minify mow mutual agreement narrow net nip obligate obligation obtain occlude operation overdose pact paction padlock plan plight plumb poll pollard preengagement procure program project promise proposition protocol prune publish the banns pucker pucker up pull down purse reap recap recapitulate recognizance reduce restrict retrench run run a temperature sack scale down score seal seal off seal up secure shake hands on shave shear shorten shrink shut shut the door shut up sicken sink slam snap snape snub solidify squeeze squeeze shut stipulate stipulation straiten strangle strangulate stunt succumb to sum up summarize synopsize take take ill take in take the vows taper task telescope transaction treaty trim troth truncate understanding undertake undertaking union contract upset valid contract venture verbal agreement wage contract weaken welcome win