[a. F. contraction (13th c. in Littré), ad. L. contractiōn-em, n. of action from contrahĕre to CONTRACT.]
I. Related to CONTRACT v. I, II.
1. The action of contracting or of establishing by contract; spec. the action of contracting marriage; † also, betrothal (obs.).
1598. Hakluyt, Voy., I. 180 (R.). The mutual contraction of a perpetuall league and confirmation of friendship.
1602. Shaks., Ham., III. iv. 46. Oh such a deed, As from the body of Contraction pluckes The very soule.
1630. R. Johnson’s Kingd. & Commw., 577. Contraction of peace and friendship.
1702. C. Mather, Magn. Chr., IV. iii. (1852), 62. After his ‘contraction’ … unto the daughter of Mr. Wilson, he was married unto that gentlewoman.
1885. N. & Q., 28 Nov., 433. The second marriage … was probably in 1384, though the pardon for its (unlicensed) contraction is not dated until February 18, 1389.
† b. = CONTRACTATION. Obs.
1582. Lichefield, trans. Castaneda’s Hist. E. Ind., 69 a. The house appointed for the contraction of the Indias.
1588. R. Parke, trans. Mendoza’s Hist. China, 74. During the which time, the marchants do leaue their contractions and trafickes.
† c. The action of contracting for (work, or goods to be supplied). Obs.
1599. Hakluyt, Voy., II. II. 316. The city of Palma, where is great contraction for wines, which are laden for the West India & other places.
1691. T. H[ale], Acc. New Invent., 86. Interested in the Manufacture of Mill’d-Lead, and Contraction for the same with the Officers of the Navy.
2. The action of contracting or incurring (a debt).
1825. McCulloch, Pol. Econ., III. viii. 386. Her subsequent contests … having led to the contraction of an immense public debt.
1884. Earl Selborne, in Law Times Rep., 8 March, 42/2. Anterior to the contraction of the … debt.
3. The action of contracting, acquiring, or becoming infected with (a disease, habit, etc.).
1683. Tryon, Way to Health, 72. The Root of all or most Diseases is, first, some inward Contraction of matter, caused by Superfluity.
II. Related to CONTRACT v. III.
† 4. The action of drawing together or collecting (trans. and intr.). Obs. rare.
1610. Healey, St. Aug. Citie of God, XIII. xxiv. (1620), 468. As we men of the ayre about vs can make a contraction into our owne selues and giue it out againe in a breath.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 714. Tears are caused by a Contraction of the Spirits of the Brain.
5. The action or process of contracting (trans. and intr.), or state of being contracted; decrease in length, breadth, extent, or volume; shrinking, shortening, narrowing. (The most usual sense.)
1589. Nashe, Greene’s Arcadia (1626), Pref. 7. To vaunt the pride of contraction in euery manuarie action: insomuch, that the Pater-noster … is written in the compasse of a penny.
1594. T. B., La Primaud. Fr. Acad., II. 261. Feare … is also a contraction and closing vp of the heart.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., 372. The act of laughter which is a sweet contraction of the muscles of the face.
1665. Phil. Trans., I. 49. Measuring the Quantity of the Expansion and Contraction of Liquors by Cold.
1707. Curios. in Husb. & Gard., 89. This Contraction of the Sensitive-Plant.
1749. Smollett, Regicide, I. vii. (R.). The stern contraction of thy sullen brow.
1876. Foster, Phys., II. ii. (1879), 303. The ribs are raised by the contraction of certain muscles.
b. Path. ‘A term for the shortening of a muscle from some morbid cause; also, a morbid shortening of any structure whether accompanied or not by alteration of tissue’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.).
1871. T. Holmes, Surg. (ed. 2), V. 589. Useful in cases of contraction of the elbow in children.
† c. = CONTRACTURE 2. Obs.
1624. Wotton, Archit. (1672), 23. The Contraction aloft shall be one fourth part of his thickness below.
6. fig. Restriction, limitation, confinement; diminution of amount, extent, or scope.
a. 1670. Rust, Disc. Truth (1682), 189. It is no bondage, slavery or contraction, to be bound up to the eternal Laws of Right and Justice.
1778. Johnson, Lett., 3 July, in Boswell. He … talks of making more contractions of his expense.
1848. Mill, Pol. Econ., III. xiii. § 3. The contraction of credit, characteristic of a commercial crisis.
b. Narrowness (of mind).
1775. Miss Burney, Early Diary (1889), II. 94. Perfectly free from any narrowness or contraction. Ibid., II. 103. Not from bigotry or contraction; for he is perfectly liberal minded.
1865. Mozley, Mirac., viii. 175. Their standard is wholly free from contraction.
† 7. Abbreviation (of a writing, etc.), abridgement; condensation, conciseness. Obs. or arch.
1655. M. Carter, Hon. Rediv. (1660), 89. In the next place, I shall with as great contraction, lay down, etc.
1670. Blount, Law Dict., Pref. I have … made use of Cowel, Lambert, etc. … yet seldom without Corrections, Contractions or Additions.
1725. Pope, Pref. to Homer, Wks. 1751, VI. 317. As far as that is seen in the main parts of the Poem, such as the fable, manners, and sentiments, no translator can prejudice it but by wilful omissions or contractions.
1869. Swinburne, Ess. & Stud. (1875), 219. Shelley never in his life wrote a poem of that exquisite contraction and completeness.
† b. quasi-concr. A reduction, an epitome.
1697. Dampier, Voy. (1698), I. A iv b. It is a contraction of a larger Map which I took from several stations in the Bay itself.
1721. Strype, Eccl. Mem., I. I. 384. This is but a contraction of the King’s mandate to the Archbishop.
8. Gram., Phonetics, etc. The action of contracting or shortening (a word, a syllable, etc.) by omitting or combining some elements, or, in writing, by substituting a single symbol for a number of letters.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), s.v., A Contraction of Syllables.
1730–6. Bailey (folio), Contraction (in Grammar), the reduction of two vowels or syllables into one.
1793. Beddoes, Math. Evid., 140. The universal tendency to contraction, is not less apparent in the Greek than in other languages.
1877. Blackie’s Pop. Encycl., I. 4/2. Carrying abbreviation and conventional contraction to such an excess as to make their writings unintelligible to all but the initiated.
b. Pros. The substitution of a long syllable for two short ones in Greek and Latin verse.
1884. Hadley & Allen, Grk. Gram., § 1080. An example of contraction is the substitution of a spondee for the dactyl in the dactylic hexameter.
c. concr. A contracted or shortened form of a word, etc., in speech or writing; an abbreviation.
1755. Johnson, s.v., The writing is full of contractions.
1861. Du Chaillu, Expl. Equat. Africa, App. B. (ed. 2), 475. The Mpongwe language … abounds in contractions and compounded words.
1867. Skeat, Pref., i. to P. Pl., A. p. xvi. All expansions of contractions [have been] marked by the use of italics.
9. Comb. † contraction-house = CONTRACTATION-HOUSE; contraction-rule, a pattern-maker’s rule made slightly longer than the standard one to allow for the contraction of the casting in cooling.
1622. Malynes, Anc. Law-Merch., 25. The small Quintall is the weight of the contraction House of the Indies.
1624. Capt. Smith, Virginia, IV. 149. Those of the Contraction house were neuer able to subsist by the Mines onely.
