Both Uses of
contract
in
1984, by Orwell
- The dull pain in his belly never went away, but sometimes it grew better and sometimes worse, and his thoughts expanded or contracted accordingly.
p. 228.7 *contracted = shrank
- Winston's entrails contracted.
p. 231.9contracted = cramped (tightened as the muscles shortened)
Definitions:
-
(1)
(contract as in: legal contract) an agreement - typically written and enforceable by law
-
(2)
(contract as in: contract the disease) to get -- especially in reference to a disease
-
(3)
(contract as in: the metal contracted) when something gets shorter or smaller
-
(4)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
A grammatical sense of the word form contraction describes can't as a shortened form of can not.