contract
Other forms: contracts; contracted; contracting
When you and someone else have agreed on something and that agreement is both binding and enforceable by law, you have a contract. When you rent an apartment, you and your future landlord sign a rental contract.
You can also use the word in this sense as a verb meaning "to hire." Wouldn't you like to contract someone to clean your room for you? In other verbal uses of contract, place the accent on the second syllable — kun-TRAKT. If you contract a disease, you catch it, but only use this if it's something serious. You catch a cold, but contract malaria. Contract also means "shrink." When the economy contracts, consumers stop buying things, and people lose their jobs.
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a binding agreement between two or more persons that is enforceable by lawtypes:adhesion contract, contract of adhesiona contract that heavily restricts one party while leaving the other free (as some standard form printed contracts); implies inequality in bargaining poweraleatory contracta contract whose performance by one party depends on the occurrence of an uncertain contingent event (but if it is contingent on the outcome of a wager it is not enforceable)bilateral contracta contract involving mutual promises (each party is both promisor and promisee)chartera contract to hire or lease transportationconditional contracta contract whose performance depends on a fact or event that affects legal relationscost-plus contracta contract in which the contractor is paid his total cost plus a stated percentage of profitgambling contracta contract whose performance by one party is contingent on the outcome of a bet; unenforceable by statute in most jurisdictionsleasea contract granting use or occupation of property during a specified time for a specified paymentoutput contracta contract in which you promise to deliver your entire output to the other party who promises to accept itquasi contracta contract created by law for reasons of justice without any expression of assentrequirements contracta contract in which you agree to purchase all your requirements of a particular sort from one partycontract under seal, sealed instrument, special contracta contract that is signed and has the (wax) seal of the signer attachedservice contracta contract for maintenance servicesseverable contracta contract which, in the event of a breach by one of the parties, can be considered as several independent agreements expressed in a single instrumentsubcontracta contract assigning to another party some obligations of a prior contractpartnershipa contract between two or more persons who agree to pool talent and money and share profits or lossescollective agreement, labor agreement, labor contractcontract between labor and management governing wages and benefits and working conditionsdistribution agreementa contract governing the marketing of an item of merchandiselicensing agreementcontract giving someone the legal right to use a patent or trademarkcontract of hazard, sale in grossa sale of a tract of land as a whole without a warranty as to the acreageindenturea contract binding one party into the service of another for a specified termfloater, floating policyan insurance policy covering loss of movable property (e.g. jewelry) regardless of its locationfranchisean authorization to sell a company's goods or services in a particular placeyellow-dog contracta labor contract (now illegal) whereby the employee agrees not to join a trade uniontype of:written agreementa legal document summarizing the agreement between parties
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a variety of bridge in which the bidder receives points toward game only for the number of tricks he bidsynonyms: contract bridge
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(contract bridge) the highest bid becomes the contract setting the number of tricks that the bidder must makesynonyms: declaration
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enter into a contractual arrangementsynonyms: undertaketypes:stipulatemake an oral contract or agreement in the verbal form of question and answer that is necessary to give it legal forcesignbe engaged by a written agreementcondition, qualify, specify, stipulatespecify as a condition or requirement in a contract or agreement; make an express demand or provision in an agreementundersignsign at the bottom of (a document)inkappend one's signature toinitialmark with one's initialscountersignadd one's signature to after another's to attest authenticityexecutesign in the presence of witnessesprovidedetermine (what is to happen in certain contingencies), especially by including a proviso condition or stipulation
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engage by written agreement
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make or become more narrow or restricted
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make smaller
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become smaller or draw together
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squeeze or press together“the spasm contracted the muscle”
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compress or concentrate
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reduce in scope while retaining essential elementssynonyms: abbreviate, abridge, cut, foreshorten, reduce, shortenantonyms:expandadd details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writingtypes:bowdlerise, bowdlerize, castrate, expurgate, shortenedit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicatetelescopemake smaller or shorter
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be stricken by an illness, fall victim to an illness
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Vocabulary lists containing contract
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