contract
- 01 B1 Intermediate
n.a formal, written agreement between people or companies that the law protects.
n.a legally binding agreement between two or more parties, usually documented in writing and enforceable by law.
Simple“Before you start the new job, you must sign your employment contract.”
In context“The legal team spent several weeks reviewing the terms of the merger contract to ensure all intellectual property rights were protected.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
n.an informal word for an agreement to pay someone to kill another person.
n.an arrangement or order given to a hired assassin to murder a specific target.
Simple“In the movie, the villain puts out a contract on the hero.”
In context“The detective suspected that the victim had been targeted by a professional hitman following a high-stakes contract.”
Synonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to become shorter, tighter, or smaller.
v.to undergo a reduction in size, volume, or length; often used of muscles or materials.
Simple“Metals usually contract when they get cold and expand when they get hot.”
In context“The heart muscle must contract and relax in a steady rhythm to pump blood effectively throughout the body.”
- 04 C1 Advanced
v.to catch a disease or become ill.
v.to acquire or become infected with a disease. Transitive; always takes the illness as a direct object.
Simple“He contracted a rare virus while traveling through the jungle.”
In context“Public health officials were concerned about how quickly the patients had contracted the infection within the hospital ward.”
- 05 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to make a word shorter by leaving out some letters.
v.to shorten a word or phrase by omitting internal letters, often replaced by an apostrophe in writing.
Simple“In English, we often contract 'do not' to 'don't' when we speak.”
In context“The author chose to contract several auxiliary verbs to make the dialogue sound more natural and less formal.”
Synonyms - 06 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to make a formal agreement to hire someone or do work.
v.to enter into a formal or legally binding agreement to perform work or provide services.
Simple“The city decided to contract a private company to clean the parks.”
In context“The government intends to contract out the maintenance of the national highway system to reduce administrative overhead.”
Usage contract extension · contract next · contract with the club
“Cities concentrate the majority of jobs of overall (65 percent), in particular the more stable contract positions, whereas in the countryside there's a far higher rate of self-employment.”
“Now, more than 80 cities have dropped or are publicly considering dropping their contracts with Flock.”
From Middle English, from Old French contract, from Latin contractus (noun), from contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”) [from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”)] + -tus (suffix forming nouns from verbs).
From Middle English, from Middle French contracter, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”), from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”). The verb developed after the noun, and originally meant only "draw together"; the sense "make a contract with" developed later.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.