a. Also 7 -able. [f. L. type *contractibilis, f. contract- ppl. stem of contrahĕre: see -BLE.] Capable of contracting or drawing together; contractile.
1651. H. More, in Enthus. Triumph. (1656), 266. A spirituall substance … dilatable and contractible.
1678. Cudworth, Intell. Syst., I. v. 833. Which Outward Extension, is … not to be Accounted Body because Penetrable, Contractable, and Dilatable.
1852–9. Todd, Cycl. Anat., IV. 1058/1. Their quick contractible power.
1872. Mivart, Elem. Anat., § 6. The heart is rhythmically contractible.
Hence Contractibleness, Contractibility.
1730–6. Bailey (folio), Contractibleness, capableness of being contracted.
1733. Arbuthnot, Ess. Effects Air, iii. 47. By this continual Contractibility and Dilatibility, by different Degrees of Heat, the Air is kept in a constant Motion.
1873. W. Lees, Acoustics, III. i. 83. The greater expansibility or contractibility of brass than iron.
