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# contracted

verb past form of contract (contract, contracts, contracted, contracting); adjective (contracted)

«contracted» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Became smaller or shorter (The metal contracted as it cooled). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contracted/#m1)
2. Caught an illness (She contracted measles). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contracted/#m2)
3. Made a formal agreement to do work (The firm was contracted to build the bridge). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contracted/#m3)
4. (grammar) Shortened by joining words (a contracted form like «don't»). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contracted/#m4)
5. To contract something can mean to get or pick up a habit, dirt or friendship over time. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contracted/#m5)

### In the lessons

In science: materials contract when cooled and expand when heated; muscles contract to move bones. In grammar: contracted forms with apostrophes (can't, it's). In health: to contract a disease. In formal writing: contracted to do work.

### Examples

- The metal rail contracted in the cold night. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contracted/#x1)
- The muscle contracted and lifted the arm. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contracted/#x2)
- He contracted chickenpox from his cousin. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contracted/#x3)
- The builders were contracted to fix the roof. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contracted/#x4)
- «Won't» is the contracted form of «will not». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contracted/#x5)
- The puddle contracted as the sun dried it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contracted/#x6)
- After a time he became an adept in the black art, and contracted an intimate acquaintance with the fiendish races. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contracted/#x7)

### Note

Opposite in science: expanded. Noun: contraction (both shrinking and a short word form like «isn't»). Stress: kun-TRAK-tid for the verb.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «contracted» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/contracted/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«contracted» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/contracted.html) on Mova free.