a. Chiefly Phys. [a. F. contractile, f. L. contract- ppl. stem of contrahĕre + -ILE: cf. ductile.]
1. Having the property of contracting or drawing together; capable of contracting.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Contractile, a Term made use of by some Physicians, to express such Muscles, and other parts of the Body as are contracted.
1793. T. Beddoes, Observ. Calculus, etc., 171. The irritable or contractile, improperly called the muscular fibre.
1848. Carpenter, Anim. Phys., 19. The contractile tissues, by which the movements of plants are produced.
1872. Huxley, Phys., ii. 40. The substance of the heart is contractile.
2. Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of contraction; producing contraction.
1725. N. Robinson, Th. Physick, 66. Those Vessels compos’d of Fibres that have a Contractile and Distractile Power.
1739. Eliz. Carter, trans. Algarotti on Newton (1742), II. 170. Involving it in his contractile and expansive Forces.
1836. Todd, Cycl. Anat., I. 603/1. The contractile action takes place in every direction.
1873. W. Lees, Acoustics, III. i. 82. The enormous contractile force of iron.
