All 4 Uses of

contrast

in

Snow Crash

In contrast with the relativists, who believe that languages need not have anything in common with each other, the universalists believe that if you can analyze languages enough, you can find that all of them have certain traits in common.†
Chpt 35-36

in contrast = in a comparison that shows differences

By contrast other civilizations seem "speechless" or at least, as may have been the case in Egypt, not entirely cognizant of the creative and transformational powers of language.†
Chpt 35-36 *

It has been caught through some kind of light-amplifying optics that wash out the color and make everything incredibly grainy and low contrast.†
Chpt 19-20

The vast matted tangle of small boats radiates a murky cloud of yellow light that spoils the contrast.†
Chpt 51-52

Definitions:

(1) (contrast as in: contrast their writing styles)
point to differences between; or compare to show differences
(2) (contrast as in: there is a contrast)
a difference -- especially a notable difference; or the side-x-side arrangement of things that draws attention to an unmissable difference
(3) (contrast as in: sharpen the picture contrast)
the difference between tones of an image -- as in a photo or video -- such as the quality of brightness or the intensity of shades or colors
(4) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)