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contact

Contact is the act of touching or communicating with someone or something else. The question increasingly isn't whether there is other life in the universe, but how on earth we will ever make contact with it.

"To make contact" (the noun) means to establish some form of communication, be it physical, verbal, or some other kind. To contact (the verb) means to establish that communication. If you're looking to contact Madonna, good luck. She's got people whose only job it is to prevent folks like you from making contact with her. Batteries have two contacts, one positive and one negative. They are where the battery makes contact with the thing to which it provides power.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: contact

1
 nv
the act of touching physically
be in direct physical contact with; make contact
2
 nv
a person who is in a position to give you special assistance
be in or establish communication with
3
 n
a thin curved glass or plastic lens designed to fit over the cornea in order to correct vision or to deliver medication
4
 n
(electronics) a junction where things (as two electrical conductors) touch or are in physical contact
FULL DEFINITIONS OF: contact
1

n the act of touching physically

“her fingers came in contact with the light switch”
Synonyms:
physical contact
Types:
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rub, wipe
the act of rubbing or wiping
fair ball
(baseball) a ball struck with the bat so that it stays between the lines (the foul lines) that define the width of the playing field
snick
a glancing contact with the ball off the edge of the cricket bat
laying on
the act of contacting something with your hand
scuff
the act of scuffing (scraping or dragging the feet)
Type of:
touch, touching
the act of putting two things together with no space between them

n the physical coming together of two or more things

“contact with the pier scraped paint from the hull”
Synonyms:
impinging, striking
Types:
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collision, hit
(physics) a brief event in which two or more bodies come together
engagement, interlocking, mesh, meshing
contact by fitting together
flick
a light sharp contact (usually with something flexible)
impact
the striking of one body against another
touch, touching
the event of something coming in contact with the body
blow, bump
an impact (as from a collision)
slam
a forceful impact that makes a loud noise
brush, light touch
momentary contact
stroke
a light touch
Type of:
happening, natural event, occurrence, occurrent
an event that happens

n the state or condition of touching or of being in immediate proximity

“litmus paper turns red on contact with an acid”
Types:
osculation
(mathematics) a contact of two curves (or two surfaces) at which they have a common tangent
tangency
the state of being tangent; having contact at a single point or along a line without crossing
Type of:
connectedness, connection, link
the state of being connected

v be in direct physical contact with; make contact

“The wire must not contact the metal cover”
“The surfaces contact at this point”
Synonyms:
adjoin, meet, touch
converge, meet
be adjacent or come together
Types:
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cover, spread over
form a cover over
adhere, cleave, cling, cohere, stick
come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation
chafe, fray, fret, rub, scratch
cause friction
attach
be attached; be in contact with
hug
fit closely or tightly
abut, adjoin, border, butt, butt against, butt on, edge, march
lie adjacent to another or share a boundary
border, environ, ring, skirt, surround
extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle
lean against, lean on, rest on
rest on for support
flood
cover with liquid, usually water
bloody
cover with blood
mist, mist over
become covered with mist
glaciate
cover with ice or snow or a glacier
strew
cover; be dispersed over
grass, grass over
cover with grass
mold
fit tightly, follow the contours of
conglutinate
stick together
agglutinate
clump together; as of bacteria, red blood cells, etc.
cake, coat
form a coat over
drown, overwhelm, submerge
cover completely or make imperceptible
leech onto
admire boundlessly and follow around
fringe
decorate with or as if with a surrounding fringe
gird, girdle
put a girdle on or around
cloister
surround with a cloister
close in, enclose, inclose, shut in
surround completely
mantle
cover like a mantle
hem in
surround in a restrictive manner
cloak, clothe, drape, robe
cover as if with clothing
neighbor, neighbour
be located near or adjacent to
cloister
surround with a cloister, as of a garden
blanket
form a blanket-like cover (over)
carpet
form a carpet-like cover (over)
smother
form an impenetrable cover over
shroud
form a cover like a shroud
2

n a person who is in a position to give you special assistance

“he used his business contacts to get an introduction to the governor”
Synonyms:
middleman
Type of:
representative
a person who represents others

n a channel for communication between groups

Synonyms:
inter-group communication, liaison, link
Type of:
channel, communication channel, line
(often plural) a means of communication or access

n close interaction

“they kept in daily contact”
“they claimed that they had been in contact with extraterrestrial beings”
Types:
brush
contact with something dangerous or undesirable
eye contact
contact that occurs when two people look directly at each other
placement
contact established between applicants and prospective employees
Type of:
interaction
a mutual or reciprocal action; interacting

n a communicative interaction

“the pilot made contact with the base”
Synonyms:
touch
Type of:
communicating, communication
the activity of communicating; the activity of conveying information

v be in or establish communication with

“He never contacted his children after he emigrated to Australia”
Synonyms:
get hold of, get through, reach
Types:
ping
send a message from one computer to another to check whether it is reachable and active
ping
contact, usually in order to remind of something
raise
establish radio communications with
Type of:
communicate, intercommunicate
transmit thoughts or feelings
3

n a thin curved glass or plastic lens designed to fit over the cornea in order to correct vision or to deliver medication

Synonyms:
contact lens
Type of:
lens, lens system, lense
a transparent optical device used to converge or diverge transmitted light and to form images
4

n (electronics) a junction where things (as two electrical conductors) touch or are in physical contact

“they forget to solder the contacts”
Synonyms:
tangency
Types:
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breaker point, distributor point, point
a contact in the distributor; as the rotor turns its projecting arm contacts them and current flows to the spark plugs
electrical contact
contact that allows current to pass from one conductor to another
p-n junction
the junction between a p-type semiconductor and an n-type semiconductor
short, short circuit
accidental contact between two points in an electric circuit that have a potential difference
sound bow
contact (the part of a bell) against which the clapper strikes
pole, terminal
a contact on an electrical device (such as a battery) at which electric current enters or leaves
tread
the part (as of a wheel or shoe) that makes contact with the ground
contact arm, wiper, wiper arm
contact consisting of a conducting arm that rotates over a series of fixed contacts and comes to rest on an outlet
anode
the negatively charged terminal of a voltaic cell or storage battery that supplies current
negative pole
the terminal of a battery that is connected to the negative plate
positive pole
the terminal of a battery that is connected to the positive plate
Type of:
conjunction, junction
something that joins or connects
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