contract

noun

An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.

(law) An agreement which the law will enforce in some way. A legally binding contract must contain at least one promise, i.e., a commitment or offer, by an offeror to and accepted by an offeree to do something in the future. A contract is thus executory rather than executed.

(law) The document containing such an agreement.

(informal) An order, usually given to a hired assassin, to kill someone.

(bridge) The declarer's undertaking to win the number of tricks bid with a stated suit as trump.

(law) A part of legal studies dealing with laws and jurisdiction related to contracts.

verb

(intransitive) To make an agreement or contract; to covenant.

(transitive) To enter into a contract with (someone or something).

(ambitransitive) To draw together or nearer; to shorten, narrow, or lessen.

(transitive) To bring on; to incur; to acquire.

(transitive) To gain or acquire (an illness).

To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit.

(grammar) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.

To betroth; to affiance.

(transitive, archaic) To enter into (an agreement) with mutual obligations; to make (an arrangement).

adjective

(obsolete) Contracted; affianced; betrothed.

(obsolete) Not abstract; concrete.

Roots

traho-tract · Latin · draw, pull

Synonyms for contract

agreementn pactionn pactn dealn covenantn stipulationn treatyn undertakev foreshortenv accordn

Synonyms & related words for contract

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of contract — including agreement, paction, pact, deal, covenant, stipulation. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to contract

Explore words related to contract — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include recontract, precontract, contractual, subcontract, contractually, contractable, sign, contractible. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for contract

Common synonyms for contract include agreement, paction, pact, deal, covenant, stipulation, treaty, undertake — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does contract come from?

The word contract breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root -tract, from Latin traho (“draw, pull”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.