# contract

Pronunciation: say "KON-trakt" US /ˈkɑntɹækt/, UK /ˈkɒntɹækt/

## Noun

1. A formal, legally binding agreement between two or more parties, usually in writing, setting out what each will do.
   - Simple: An official agreement between people or companies that the law can enforce.
   - _The two companies drew up a contract for the delivery of parts._
   - _Each freelancer works under a separate contract for the duration of the project._
2. The written document that sets out the terms of an agreement between the parties.
   - Simple: The piece of paper that records a deal between people.
   - _The lawyer mailed the signed contract back to both parties._
   - _He kept a copy of the contract in his desk drawer._
6. An order, usually given to a hired assassin, to kill a particular person. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: An order to a paid killer to murder a person.
   - _Rumors spread that a rival boss had taken out a contract on him._
   - _The hitman accepted the contract and disappeared from the city._
9. The branch of legal study concerned with the laws and jurisdiction that govern binding agreements between parties.
   - Simple: The part of law that deals with agreements and how courts enforce them.
   - _Her exam in contract covered offer, acceptance, and consideration._
   - _The professor taught contract alongside torts that semester._
11. In bridge, the declaring side's commitment, fixed by the final bid, to win a stated number of tricks, either with a named suit as trumps or with no trumps.
   - Simple: In the card game bridge, a promise to win a set number of rounds, with or without a trump suit.
   - _The partnership landed in a three no-trump contract after a brisk auction._
   - _Doubling the opponents' contract can turn a small loss into a heavy penalty._

## Verb

Pronunciation: say "kuhn-TRAKT" /kənˈtɹækt/

3. To enter into a formal, binding agreement with someone, or to agree formally to do something.
   - Simple: To make an official agreement with someone, for example to do work or provide something.
   - _The studio contracted several artists for the animation project._
   - _Hospitals often contract private companies to manage their laundry._
4. To become affected by an illness, whether by catching it or by developing it.
   - Simple: To catch or come down with an illness or disease.
   - _She contracted malaria while traveling through the region._
   - _Workers who handle livestock can contract infections from the animals._
5. To become or make smaller, shorter, or tighter, or to draw together, as muscles or a frowning brow do.
   - Simple: To become smaller or tighter, or to pull together.
   - _Most materials contract as the temperature drops._
   - _The pupil contracts in bright light to protect the eye._
7. To bring upon oneself; to incur or acquire something.
   - Simple: To bring something on yourself, such as a debt.
   - _The company contracted serious financial obligations during the expansion._
   - _Travelers may contract debts that follow them home for years._
8. To shorten a word by dropping one or more letters or by merging vowels or syllables into a single one.
   - Simple: To make a word shorter by leaving out letters or sounds.
   - _English speakers routinely contract 'will not' into 'won't' in everyday speech._
   - _Poets often contracted 'over' to 'o'er' to fit the meter._
10. To betroth; to formally pledge two people to be married to each other.
   - Simple: To promise that two people will marry each other.
   - _The duke moved to contract his daughter to a foreign prince._
   - _Under the old custom, she was contracted to a neighbor's son when she was only six._

## Adjective

12. Bound by a formal promise of marriage; engaged or betrothed. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Promised to marry someone.
13. Concrete, as distinct from abstract. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Real and specific, not just an idea.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 6, 9, 11–13** — From Middle English, via Old French contract, from the Latin noun contractus, based on contrahere ("to bring together, to conclude a bargain"), formed from con- ("together") plus trahere ("to draw, to pull").
**Meanings 3–5, 7–8, 10** — Latin contrahere ("to bring together, to conclude a bargain") combined con- ("together") and trahere ("to draw, to pull"). Its past participle contractum gave Middle French contracter and then the Middle English verb. The verb arose after the noun and at first meant only "draw together," and "make a contract with" was a later sense.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/contract (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).