Contraction

UK IPA: /ËˆkÉ’n.tÉ¹Ã¦k.ÊƒÉ™n/ stressed; IPA: /kÉ™nËˆtrÃ¦k.ÊƒÉ™n/ unstressed
US IPA: /kÉ™nËˆtÉ¹Ã¦k.ÊƒÉ™n/
Rhymes: -Ã¦kÊƒÉ™n

From Old French contraction, from Latin contractiÅ.

Full definition of contraction

(plural contractions)

A reversible reduction in size.
(economics) A period of economic decline or negative growth.The country's economic contraction was caused by high oil prices.
(biology) A shortening of a muscle when it is used.
(medicine) A strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth.
(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.In English didn't, that's, and wanna, the endings -n't, -'s, and -a arose by contraction.
(English orthography) A word with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe, usually resulting from the above process."Don't" is a contraction of "do not."
(medicine) Contracting a disease.The contraction of AIDS from toilet seats is extremely rare.
(phonetics) Syncope, the loss of sounds from within a word.
The acquisition of something, generally negative.Our contraction of debt in this quarter has reduced our ability to attract investors.
(medicine) A distinct stage of wound healing, wherein the wound edges are gradually pulled together.